Elgin gets defensive on St. Charles E.
The St. Charles East boys basketball team rode into Elgin's Chesbrough Field House Friday on top of the Upstate Eight Conference's River Division, thanks in large part to an offense averaging 58 points per game.
The Saints left Chesbrough saddled with their first division loss after the defensive-minded Maroons held them 19 points below their season average in a 55-39 victory.
Elgin (8-1, 2-1) won its fourth straight game by constantly hounding the top two offensive threats for St. Charles East (5-3, 3-1).
Purdue-bound junior Kendall Stephens (6-foot-5), who was guarded by Elgin's Dennis Moore (5-11), was limited to 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting, far below his season high of 32.
Sophomore point guard Dominic Adduci was held to 8 points six days after he poured in 25 in a win against Geneva. He was guarded by senior Cortez Scott, whom Elgin coach Mike Sitter calls his best “on-ball defender.”
The result? The Saints shot 12 of 40 from the field (30 percent). They were limited to 3 points in the first quarter and 6 in the fourth quarter.
“We were getting the looks we wanted, but we couldn't finish,” Stephens said. “You have to give credit to Elgin. They played good defense, they really did.
“I mean, it's Elgin. they've always got a reputation as far as always being a team, always playing hard, always being scrappy. I think they did a good job on always being conscious of where I was at.”
The Maroons were also conscious of obstructing Stephens' vision.
“He's a tall guy and he can shoot high over your head,” said Elgin's Kory Brown, who blocked 3 shots. “We weren't going to try to block it, we just put a hand in his eyeballs so he couldn't see anything.”
“We just tried to frustrate (Stephens) and make sure he took jump shots over high hands with hands in his face all the time,” Moore said.
Adduci was limited to 3 field goals in 10 attempts. Two of his baskets were 3-pointers.
“The biggest key was no penetration by Aduci,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “He's good. Cortez did a nice job. I'm very happy defensively. That was our concentration all week. We watched game films and drew up their specials, and the kids executed the game plan. There was very little coaching from me. I just sat back and watched and they played nice defense.”
Elgin took a 9-3 lead after a quarter as the two teams tested each other's defenses the way a boxer uses his jab.
Elgin outscored the Saints 18-15 in the second quarter, helped by 5 points off the bench from Devin Gilliam, but the Saints stuck around. They were able to trim the deficit to 27-23 with 6:20 left in third quarter when junior Michael Woods splashed a 3-pointer.
However, the Maroons responded with a 9-3 run, keyed by a three-point play from Arie Williams (12 points) to take a 40-33 lead after three quarters.
Elgin dominated the final eight minutes. The Maroons opened the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run, sparked by 3 short jumpers in the lane by the 6-6 Brown, who penetrated and elevated. He led Elgin in scoring (14 points) and rebounding (11).
The win draws the Maroons even in the loss column with the Saints.
“We knew if we would have lost this game we would have been very down in our (River) Division race,” Williams said. “We know how good they are offensively and defensively, but this was a very good game for us to come out and take advantage of what we have on the floor.”
Scott finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds for Elgin.