South Elgin shoots down Streamwood
Rarely are games won from 3-point range.
This one was.
Connecting on 8-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc, South Elgin shot its way past Streamwood 73-55 in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover boys basketball game in Streamwood Saturday night.
Sammy Sutter led the 3-point barrage for the Storm (12-9) with 5 of 7 from beyond the arc in scoring a game-high 25 points. Dillon Gardner, who also had a 3-pointer scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Martin Duarte scored 10 points including a 3-pointer. Jacob Maestranzi had a 3-pointer in scoring 7 points. The sophomore guard also dished out 5 assists with 3 steals.
“With their zone and their size you have to make 3s,” said Sutter of the Sabres. “It is hard to get inside shots against their bigs. I was in the flow and was able to knock down shots.”
Sutter sizzled the twines early, connecting on three 3-pointers early in scoring all of his team’s 13 points in the first quarter.
But, Streamwood (6-16) stayed right with South Elgin in the first half. With the Storm holding a 13-9 lead, the Sabres proceeded to score 12 unanswered points to end the first quarter to take a 21-13 lead after 8 minutes. Jerrold Ofiana led the surge for the Sabres with 11 points, which included three 3-pointers.
South Elgin, which cut the Streamwood lead to 1, 26-25, at halftime dominated the second half.
With the score tied at 36, the Storm seized control of the game by scoring the final 11 points of the third quarter. Gardner scored 7 points and Sutter 4 as South Elgin led 47-36 after three quarters.
The Storm’s biggest lead of the game was 22, 60-38, after a putback by Matt Downing with 3:55 left in the game.
“I challenged our kids at halftime and told them we needed to get more points in the paint,” said South Elgin coach Chaz Taft. “We got to the basket better and got easy shots. Defensively, we got our hands up against their shooters and made it tough for them to shoot.”
Ofiana led the Sabres with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Bobby Post added 12 points and Mike Montgomery 10 for Streamwood.
“We really executed our offense in the first half,” said Streamwood coach Tim Jones. “We didn’t rotate on their shooters very well and we got a little flustered in the second half.”
Boys basketball
Oregon 62, Westminster Christian 59: Ian Dutcher had 22 points and Luke Carani added 12 for the Warriors (18-5) in a nonconference loss at Oregon.
Girls basketball
St. Charles North 49, Larkin 25: Tori Patterson’s 6 points led Larkin (3-22, 2-10) in an Upstate Eight River loss.