Elgin breezes past Christian Liberty
To work out the turkey and the mashed potatoes, the Elgin boys basketball team worked its way through a two-hour practice on Saturday afternoon.
The Maroons had heavy legs later that night, but still managed to breeze by Christian Liberty 68-32 to finish the Buffalo Grove Thanksgiving tournament with a 4-0 record and the overall title. This is the second year in a row Elgin has won the championship at Buffalo Grove.
“We knew we had to come out with defensive intensity and that kind of slacked at times because we had that early practice (and were fatigued),” Elgin guard Arie Williams said. “But once we got things going, we looked good.”
Williams looked particularly good.
He had 14 points at halftime on two 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 17 points and was one of 13 Elgin players who scored.
Teammate Kory Brown also tallied double-figures with 16 points.
The Maroons ran out to a 37-15 lead at the break and were able to give their reserves a lot of playing time in the second half. In fact, the starters didn’t even start the second half.
“We’re trying to see who from our bench can step up,” Williams said. “Coach wanted to give different people an opportunity to play.
“Those guys work hard in practice and in this game, they put their hearts on the floor. It’s fun watching them play.”
Christian Liberty did manage to give Elgin’s reserves a run for their money in the third quarter, cutting a 22-point deficit to 14 points thanks to some big shots by Luke Comerouski and Michael Hennek.
But then Elgin coach Mike Sitter reinserted his starters for a few minutes and the Maroons went on a 11-0 run to essentially shut the door for good.
“We come here to play the best competition of the whole year,” said Christian Liberty coach Jed Bennett. “When we go to our conference and when we go to regionals, it’s not going to be this kind of competition and we’ll be ready for it. That’s really why we come here.
“I’m happy with the way the guys played. We made them put their starters back in and that’s a great experience for the kids.”
Comerouski led the Chargers with 12 points. No one else reached double-figures for Christian Liberty, which drops to 1-3 on the season.