Elgin's defense thwarts South Elgin

Defense can make up for poor shooting.

The Elgin boys basketball team shot only 33 percent Tuesday night, but it held South Elgin to just 18 percent shooting to beat the Storm, 41-21, in the Class 4A St. Charles North regional semifinals.

"The defense was outstanding," Maroons coach Mike Sitter said. "We had maybe our worst shooting performance in a long time. But when you play defense, take care of the ball and hit free throws, you're going to be all right."

The top-seeded Maroons (24-3) will play the winner of today's semifinal between No. 2 St. Charles East (14-12) and No. 3 St. Charles East (13-15) in Friday's regional championship game. Elgin split two regular-season meetings with both teams.

A better offensive performance likely will be needed in the final. The Maroons went 1-for-11 in the first quarter Tuesday, but led 4-2 as South Elgin (12-16) was 1-for-6.

The Storm tied the game at 4-4 a minute into the second quarter on a Jacob Maestranzi jumper in the paint. Kory Brown scored 5 consecutive points to start an 11-0 run as the Maroons took a 15-4 lead. Elgin led 19-8 at halftime.

"Their defense is probably the best we've seen all year," Storm coach Chaz Taft said. "They're quick, athletic. They get in the gaps. They pressure. They do a lot of great things."

Elgin did not allow a field goal in the third quarter as the Storm went 0-for-9 from the floor, scoring only on 3 free throws. South Elgin did not hit double figures until Eric Stazy's free throw with 3:56 left in the third. Matt Andres' 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Maroons a 30-11 lead after the third quarter.

The Maroons led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter. South Elgin didn't hit its field goal of the second half until a Devonte Everett 3-pointer with 4:09 left in the fourth, more than 13 minutes of game time since a Maestranzi basket with 1:12 left in the second quarter.

"We went into the locker room at the end of the game saying this might not have been one of our best offensive (games), but it sure was the best defensive game we've played all year," said Brown, who led the Maroons with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Elgin hit 15 of 17 free throws to overcome a 12-for-36 shooting performance. Gerardo Mojica added 9 points for the Maroons. Dennis Moore had 8.

Maestranzi led the Storm with 7 points. Everett scored 5 points, all in the fourth quarter. South Elgin was just 6-for-33 from the floor.