Elgin survives Glenbard North comeback bid
Elgin took a big lead then took surging Glenbard North’s best shot Tuesday night, but the Maroons were able to fend off the Panthers’ fourth-quarter bid via big plays from senior leaders in a 57-51 victory on Day 2 of the 37th Annual Elgin Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament.
The victory advances Elgin (10-1) to a semifinal against Upstate Eight Conference rival Neuqua Valley today at 8:15 p.m. The game is a rematch of last year’s Elgin Tournament final, won by Neuqua Valley.
Elgin dominated the first half. Though Glenbard North won the rebounding battle 16-8, that advantage was offset by 12 turnovers compared to just 1 miscue by Elgin.
The Maroons led 31-19 at halftime and their lead grew to as much as 15 points in the third quarter, but Glenbard North (4-4) rallied behind 6-foot-6 senior forward Josh Fleming, a former AAU teammate and old friend of Elgin forward Kory Brown.
Fleming was ice cold in the first half, when he missed 8 of 9 shots from the field, but he scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half on 6-of-8 shooting. His turnaround fadeaway in the lane with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter staked the Panthers to their first lead, 42-41.
“All season I’ve been having slow starts,” Fleming said. “It started at the end of last season. I really don’t know. Sometimes I just go into the locker room at halftime and say to myself that I have to step up in order for my team to win. We came close tonight.”
The lead changed hand 3 times down the stretch as the teams traded big plays. Cortez Scott gave Elgin the lead with a 3-pointer, but Fleming answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
Dennis Moore gave Elgin a 50-47 lead with a 3-pointer with 1:54 to play, fed by a kickout pass from Gerardo Mojica. Elgin never trailed again, though the game wasn’t safe for the Maroons, even after Williams stole and inbounds pass and fed Kory Brown for a layup and a 52-48 lead with 39 seconds left in regulation.
Brown later hit 2 free throws to make it 55-51 with 11.5 seconds left. The Elgin captain scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.
“We came through as a team,” Brown said. “We were all in a slump and they got up 1. We knew it wasn’t over. We just needed to do what we’d been doing in the first half, so we kicked back up on defense and knocked down our free throws to come out with the one.”
Glenbard North will take on Harlan today at 5:15 p.m. If not for the slow start, the Panthers might still be playing in the winners’ bracket.
“Not to take anything away from Elgin because they’re a very good team, but if we play with that same kind of intensity and execution in the first half as we did in the second, we’d be in better shape,” Glenbard North coach Joe Larson said. “To beat a good team like that you have to play 32 minutes that way.”
Senior Ryan Krueger finished with 14 points for Glenbard North. Williams had 11 points and Mojica added 9 points for the Maroons.