Balanced South Elgin shoots past Larkin
The one-two punch of senior point guard Drake Montgomery and 6-foot-7 senior Vince Miszkiewicz are well known to all South Elgin opponents.
The Storm showed they have plenty more punch Thursday night in their Upstate Eight Conference opener at Larkin.
Miszkiewicz started the game with a tip-dunk on his way to 19 points and 16 rebounds. Montgomery finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
But they had help. Senior Jace Warrick and freshman Drew Cwik both made four 3-pointers, scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively. With four starters in double figures, the Storm pulled away in the second quarter and led comfortably throughout the second half of a 69-58 victory.
"Every night we have someone else who can step up," Warrick said. "We're that kind of team. We focus on driving, kicking out to the shooters and I think that's what happened tonight. It just clicked for us tonight."
Larkin (1-4, 0-1) got off to a good start. Before the game the Royals welcomed back players from last year's team that finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament, then they unveiled a banner hanging on the south wall.
Marcus Green made two early 3-pointers and a pair of free throws as the Royals took a 16-10 lead after the first quarter.
Jashon Johnson-Neals drove for a basket early in the second quarter for an 18-11 lead before the Storm answered with a 22-4 run to close the first half and lead 33-22 at halftime. Montgomery penetrated for consecutive baskets and a 19-18 lead, and South Elgin (4-1, 1-0) never trailed again.
Warrick scored 13 of his points in the first half including a corner 3 on an assist from Miszkiewicz just before the buzzer.
"It was nice to see somebody else stop up, see some younger players step up and be leaders and make things happen," South Elgin coach Brett Johnson said. "It was the team chemistry on the court. They distributed the ball and got enough open looks."
Johnson-Neals scored three straight baskets in the third quarter for the Royals who got as close as 38-31. Another South Elgin freshman, Lane Mcvicar, knocked down a 3 for a 10-point lead, which the Storm extended to as much as 65-44 midway through the fourth quarter on Montgomery's steal and layup.
Green and Johnson-Neals led Larkin with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
"We really focused on locking down (Victor) Perez and (Pierre (Black)," Warrick said. "We know they are two senior leaders and had good years last year so we tried to key on them and deny the ball when we could and make other guys beat us."
The Storm held those two seniors to a combined 16 points. Freshman Damari Wheeler-Thomas scored 6 points in the fourth quarter to help Larkin close the game on a 14-4 run.
South Elgin shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the game, sinking 11 of 22. It was a different story for Larkin who made just 9 of 34.
"We missed some but we have to get some better ones," Larkin coach Deryl Carter said. "It's part of the learning process. An open 3 isn't always a good shot. Sometimes circumstances, time, score, the way you got open. That's a lot to teach guys but as long as they are teachable they will learn."
It still was a memorable night for Carter getting to see the 2018 state banner unveiled.
"People comment to me all the time, when are you going to get over that? You don't get over that," Carter said. "That's why it's called history. We've won conference championships, we've won regionals but something like that deserves to stay on there. We'll remember it forever for sure."