Hinckley-Big Rock too much for Elgin Academy

The Elgin Academy boys basketball team was in trouble the moment Hinckley-Big Rock unveiled its full-court press.

The top-seeded Royals blanketed No. 4 Elgin Academy with suffocating pressure from one end of the floor to the other. They forced a whopping 14 turnovers in the first quarter alone en route to a 75-40 victory in the first semifinal of the Class 1A Hinckley-Big Rock regional Wednesday.

Hinckley-Big Rock (22-7) advances to the regional title game on its home floor against No. 2 Westminster Christian (17-12), which defeated Mooseheart in Wednesday's second semifinal, 44-35.

"They just brought it harder than we've faced most of the time this season," Elgin Academy senior Connor Flexman said of the Royals' full-court pressure. "We didn't execute, and we let them go on some runs. Even when we fought back we didn't quite put things together and make a run to get back at them."

Elgin Academy (9-15) turned the ball over 20 times in the first half.

"We kind of got out of our game plan a little bit there," Hilltoppers coach Dewayne Robinson said. "We had guys running away from the ball instead of coming to the ball. That was when they made their run. Basketball is a game of runs. When you go down like that early, some guys get out of it and some battle back. Tonight, that was the run that put us down."

Hinckley-Big Rock, the outright Little Ten Conference outright champs, led 25-9 after one quarter and 40-19 at halftime. The Royals eased up on the defensive pressure in the second half since the damage was done.

It was a frustrating season finale for the Hilltoppers and Flexman, a four-year varsity performer who surpassed 1,000 career points on the final day of the regular-season. Robinson gave Flexman and fellow seniors Tom Tunca and Joey Heisley a final bow when he substituted for the trio with 39.8 seconds left in the game.

"These guys are my brothers," Flexman said, "and after four years of fighting with them this is rough. It shouldn't be like that for your last game, but I'm glad for the guys who stuck by me. It was a good career and I wouldn't have wanted anyone else."

Flexman finished with team highs in scoring (18 points) and rebounding (8), Heisley added 12 points, sophomore Michael Grabek had 6 points and 4 rebounds and Tunca scored 4 points.

Junior guard Jared Madden led the Royals with 21 points and 7 rebounds.