Streamwood runs out of gas in loss to King
The Streamwood boys basketball team started strong but wilted in the late stages of a 78-70 loss to King on the opening day of pool play at the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs Saturday.
Playing on the second of back-to-back nights, the Sabres led 41-36 at halftime but could not match the 32-minute defensive intensity that propelled them to Friday's 71-66 Upstate Eight Conference road win at West Chicago.
"Friday night kind of ate up our legs a little bit," said Streamwood 6-foot-7 forward Keenon Cole, a Northern Illinois-bound senior who led all scorers with 32 points in 32 minutes. "Our main thing is defense and we didn't play as good on defense because (Friday) night we played a real hard game all the way to the buzzer. I think that affected us."
Streamwood coach Kent Payne felt he had little choice but to ride his starting lineup, win or lose. The Sabres were missing starting forward Luke Pentecost and the younger players on the roster continue to develop. Thus, Cole played the entire game and fellow starters Nikola Sinik, Zach Marquez and Nick Droll each played 30 minutes plus.
"It's hard sometimes to ask them for the same energy level when we don't sub them," Payne said. "Still, we have to come out with a little more energy and make defensive stops in the fourth quarter. That's what separates teams and we didn't make stops."
King (9-4), which last played on Thursday, threw a full-court press at the Sabres in the second half when not in a zone defense. The Jaguars also switched things up defensively on Cole after he scored 17 first-half points.
"He was real good off the bounce although he was big, so we tried to put a quicker defender on him and tried to double him because he was a load," King coach Culumber Ball said. "My guys persevered. They played hard and they hustled."
The Sabres saw a 5-point halftime lead evaporate in the third quarter when King outscored them 26-17, fueled by 10 points from 6-3 senior Raheem Brown and a pair of 3-pointers from senior Jaylin Bedell. Cole countered with 6 points and 2 blocks in the third period.
"Little by little, it felt like the game was coming away from us," Cole said.
Nevertheless, the Sabres scored 8 straight points to tie to the game at 68-68 with 2:35 remaining. That surge was ignited by Nikola Sinik's fourth 3-pointer and capped by Cole's fast-break bucket, fed by a Marquez steal.
Brown put King ahead for good with a running bank shot with two minutes left. After Sinik missed a 3-pointer at the other end, King junior Isaiah Kelly drilled a 3-pointer for a 5-point lead with 1:05 left.
Streamwood turned the ball over against the press three straight times in the final 90 seconds.
Brown and Bedell each scored 15 points to lead King. Ken Gibbs added 12 points, Kelly had 11 and Amari Elrod finished with 8 for the Jaugars, who return to pool play on Dec. 26 against Grant at noon.
Sinik finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds for Streamwood, which next plays against Jacobs on Dec. 26 at 7:30 p.m.