Elgin maturing into a real force

The Elgin boys basketball team is growing up right before our eyes.

The Maroons entered this season with virtually the same lineup that finished the 2009-10 season with a record of 7-21. Yet, this maturing, junior-heavy ensemble enters tonight’s rematch at crosstown rival Larkin with a 16-5 mark overall, locked in a three-way tie for first place in the River Division of the Upstate Eight Conference at 6-2.

Highly touted after a 32-5 record in summer league play, the Maroons made a statement right out of the gate in November by winning their first title at the Buffalo Grove Thanksgiving Tournament since 2002. Victories over the host Bison and taller Stevenson signaled immediate improvement and the promise of good things to come. The Maroons have been making good on that promise ever since.

Despite a few stumbles along the way — setbacks not altogether unexpected considering this group features only one senior starter — the Maroons are on a successful track, led by four outstanding players who have restored balanced team play to Elgin basketball: senior guard Jordan Dean, junior forward Kory Brown, junior guard Dennis Moore and sophomore point guard Arie Williams.

Elgin’s four horsemen of the post-snowpocalypse returned to the court Tuesday after a nine-day blizzard break and resumed their socialist basketball agenda, the one in which everybody gets an equal share of the scoring pie.

Brown is the leader, averaging 15.4 points per game, good for ninth on the Fox Valley area scoring list at midseason.

However, the other three are nearly as dangerous. Moore averages 11.8 points, followed by Williams (10.9) and Dean (9.5).

“We’re not worried about who scores the most points,” Dean said. “We’re trying to win.”

One need look no further than Elgin’s last three games for proof of balanced scoring distribution: Brown led the Maroons with 17 points in Tuesday’s 19-point win over DeKalb; Moore and Williams each scored 13 points to lead Elgin in a blowout victory at Burlington Central last Saturday; and Dean scored 17 points to pace a key road win at Batavia last Friday.

In a win over East Aurora two weeks ago, Brown scored 19, followed by Williams (11), Dean (10) and Moore (9).

“We all share the wealth with each other,” said Brown, a 6-foot-4 post player who plays guard on the AAU circuit. “There are four of us who can score the ball when needed to or when we have the mismatch. So we look for the guy who’s hot that night or has the mismatch.”

“Between us four someone’s always hotter than the others, so we try to get that person the ball,” Moore said. “And when we’re all hot we have those really good nights. It’s really good to have a lot of weapons on this team. It’s really good to have four people like that who are all really close.”

Elgin’s Fantastic Four grew up playing together at various levels of the Junior Maroons or academy program, and each possesses particular strengths.

Dean is the senior leader, an extraordinary athlete who helped lead the Elgin football program last fall to its first playoff appearance in a decade. In fact, he gave his verbal commitment to continue his football career at North Central College in Naperville on Super Bowl Sunday. He can hit 3-pointers or drive to the rim, and he craves the ball late in ballgames.

Moore joins Dean in the backcourt after the two played side by side in the Elgin secondary last fall. A heady, determined ballhandler with the ability to get to the hoop, Moore remains calm in pressure situations. That trait was best demonstrated in December by his game-winning 3-pointer in overtime that beat Rockford Auburn in the semifinals of the Elgin Holiday Tournament. Auburn is currently ranked No. 7 in the state in Class 4A.

Williams is a legacy, the younger brother of Elgin’s all-time 3-point king, Armani Williams, who led the Maroons to their last supersectional appearance in 2007-08 and is now a redshirt sophomore at the University of Texas-Arlington.

An adept ballhandler himself, Arie was elevated to the varsity midway through his freshman year despite being only 4-foot-11. His promotion allowed Moore to move to his more natural position on the wing.

Williams sprouted over the summer and now stands 5-5. He is the team’s most dependable long-range threat. He has 13 3-pointers in Elgin’s last 6 games and is closing in on 50 bombs for the season.

Brown is Elgin’s X-factor, a talented prospect dubbed last year by his coach as “the next in a long line of Division-I players from Elgin High.” At midseason Brown was among the top 15 in the Fox Valley area in scoring, rebounds and assists.

From the quiet sophomore who joined the varsity in 2009 just hoping to do his part, Brown has developed into Elgin’s sleek floor leader, the player from whom the others take their cues.

The Maroons also get key contributions from their fifth starter, whether it’s junior Matt Andres, a 3-point specialist who got hot in the East Aurora win, or taller senior Gerardo Mojica (6-3), whose height was so valuable against taller Batavia that he rarely left the floor. Reserves Devin Gilliam in the post and Cortez Scott on the wing give coach Mike Sitter a rotation of eight dependable players.

“Our bench is pretty good and gives us energy,” Williams said. “I think this team is good one through 15.”

Together, the Maroons have already more than doubled last year’s win total. They now have their sites set on Elgin’s first title in the Upstate Eight since 2001 and a successful postseason run.

After stubbing their collective toe in a pair of surprising January losses at sub-.500 Cary-Grove and Geneva, the Maroons have begun to play 32 minutes of basketball at the level Sitter and assistant Jeff Howard have been seeking since the season launched in November.

“I’m just real happy the last couple of weeks because we’ve really put together a few games where we’ve played four quarters of consistent basketball,” said Sitter, now in his fourth season as Elgin’s coach. “It started with Batavia last week where we just got off to the early lead and the kids played at a consistent level for all four quarters and that was nice to see.

“It’s also them believing they can be that good. Early in the year we’d play a good quarter and be up by 10 points or something and these guys would be shocked. Now they believe in themselves and think they should outscore a team by 10 in every quarter. Our confidence has increased as the year has gone on.”