Gilliam's big night helps Elgin cruise by Streamwood
Elgin boys basketball coach Mike Sitter toyed with the idea of putting Devin Gilliam into the Maroons' starting lineup on Friday.
No. 1 ranked Elgin needed a starter with Dennis Moore out for the next 3 weeks with a broken hand, but Sitter decided to keep Gilliam in the role he did best.
Friday's 64-37 Upstate Eight River victory over Streamwood at Chesbrough Field House was a perfect example of why Gilliam needed to stay put.
"He has a role," Sitter said. "With Dennis out, we thought about starting him, but he gives us energy off the bench. His job isn't to score, it's to scrap and get rebounds."
Streamwood (4-13, 1-4) had been controlling the boards in the matchup until Gilliam took control.
The 6-foot forward, who grabbed 7 rebounds in the first half, led all players with 9 total boards. And he added 13 points in what he called his best offensive game this season.
With the combination of Gilliam and center Kory Brown (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) Elgin owned the paint. The Maroons (15-1, 5-1) led 48-20 at the half as Brown (13) and Gilliam (7) combined for 20 first-half points.
"I don't have a lot of size, but I'm athletic," said Gilliam, who showed his athleticism when a pair of steals led to Maroons' baskets. "Kory and I battle all the time in practice (for rebounds). I tried to help him out on the glass."
Streamwood had worked the Maroons' lead down to 20-14 early in the second quarter. Aside from a Gilliam free throw, the Sabres did not allow Elgin to score for the first 3 minutes, 16 seconds of the period.
But a Gilliam offensive putback jump-started a 17-6 run to close out the quarter. Arie Williams (15 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) and Brown each scored 6 points in the stretch.
"We kicked up our defense," said Brown, who was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th career point in the Maroons' 59-52 overtime victory over Larkin on Wednesday.
"We were getting better on the offensive glass. We gave up quite a bit in the first quarter."
Streamwood had 5 offensive rebounds in the first period, but struggled to shoot just 2 of 9 from the floor and trailed 20-10 at the end of the first quarter. Brown's quickness also posed defensive problems, with the Sabres sending him to the line 4 times in the first half. Brown went 9-for-9 from the foul line in the game.
Guard Julius Evans scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half for the Sabres, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. The rest of Streamwood's team was 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.
"They're so much quicker than we are," Sabres' coach Tim Jones said of the Maroons. "They beat us to the boards a little bit. There is a reason that they're No. 1."