Elgin tournament roundup

Career win No. 400 was a special moment for Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton.

After a close first quarter, the Wildcats went on a tear in the second and third periods to take a commanding lead and run away with a 68-33 win over Dundee-Crown in the Elgin Holiday Tournament on Monday.

The margin of victory allowed Sutton to use everyone on his roster in the game.

"It means you've had the opportunity to share a whole bunch of great basketball moments with a whole bunch of kids for 21 years," Sutton said of the milestone. "There's been buzzer-beaters, and heartbreak, championship, games and fun on the buses, and great atmosphere across the state."

Neuqua forward Dwayne Evans said it felt good to be a part of the team that got Sutton his 400th victory.

"He deserves it," Evans, who scored a game-high 18 and added 4 assists, said. "He gets some criticism sometimes, but I think he's a good coach. Hopefully we get him some more this season."

Neuqua (8-0) held a 20-16 lead over the Chargers after one quarter. Then suffocating defense and balanced offense took over as the Wildcats outscored Dundee-Crown 35-5 in the second and third periods combined.

"I didn't really know what was happening, we were just trying to get into the flow of the game," Evans said of the defensive effort in the first quarter. "After that, our pressure was real intense today. I liked that."

Sutton said he thought the depth of his bench played a major role in the game's outcome.

"Maybe we wore them out," Sutton said. "Our bench is probably a little deeper than theirs. I know our guys were tired. Dwayne begged to come out. I would assume they got tired also. When you get tired, it gets hard to shoot."

Dundee-Crown is a team with just one senior on its roster, and coach Lance Huber knew his squad was up against Neuqua's talented roster.

"I thought we had a great effort for about a quarter and a half, and then their superiority took over and we just couldn't stay with them," Huber said.

Rahjan Muhammad had 12 points and 5 assists for Neuqua. Jim Stocki and Kyle Pembrook each had 10 for the Wildcats.

Nathan Kirchoff scored a team-best 10 points for Dundee-Crown.

The Chargers play Batavia today at 10:15 a.m., while Neuqua Valley will take on Rolling Meadows at 3:15 p.m.

Buffalo Grove 72, Willowbrook 54: Buffalo Grove's offense struck early, often and from all over the place Monday at the Elgin Holiday tournament.

The Bison built a 20-point halftime lead and featured four players reaching double-figure scoring on their way to a 72-54 victory over Willowbrook.

"Offensively we were able to push the ball a little bit, and get the ball up the floor," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. "It always helps when you make shots too."

Nick Prus scored a team-high 14 points, while Mike Cornely and Dan Recht each had 11.

"We've got a lot of weapons," said BG guard Kevin Mulligan, who scored 12 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. "A lot of people can shoot. A lot of people can dribble. Our big guys are athletic and quick."

John Angotti added 8 points and 5 assists.

Buffalo Grove plays Fremd today at 5 p.m., while Willowbrook meets Glenbrook South at 8:45 a.m.

Buffalo Grove (8-2) played a very unselfish game with quick ball movement often finding the open man.

"We don't have any selfish guys on the team," Mulligan said. "It is nice to be on a team like that. It's fun to play with these guys."

Willowbrook (4-7) got a big effort from senior guard Eric Miller, who had a game-high 23 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome BG's balance.

"I thought there was one spot where they couldn't score from, and we're a team right now that can only score from one spot," said Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato. "That's what you saw today. You saw a team that can score from four spots versus a team that can score from one spot right now."

Lavorato said the big first-half deficit was too much for his team to overcome.

"We're not the type of team that can get down like that early," he said. "They did a nice job shooting the ball, and I thought they were physical. I didn't think our offense was bad. I thought we played hard. We just can't get ourselves in a hole like that."

Chris Lynch had 10 points and 5 rebounds for the Warriors, and Ryan Rader scored 7 points while grabbing 6 boards.

Fremd 67, Glenbrook South 50: Fremd jumped out to a 15-point first quarter lead and clamped down at key moments defensively to maintain a safe distance from Glenbrook South for a 67-50 win at the Elgin Holiday Tournament on Monday.

"Charlie Rosenberg did a great job of getting us started," said Fremd senior Chris Klimek, who had 18 points and 9 rebounds. "Once we get started, we have different people that can hit you at different times. I think we're really deep this year and you can't really focus on one person."

Klimek's view was definitely right against the Titans.

Rosenberg started hot with 7 points in the first quarter, and finished the game with 11 and 6 rebounds.

After his torrid run, the rest of the Vikings (9-0), who play Buffalo Grove at 5 p.m. today, got their offensive games going.

"We all feed off each other, and we were all making good plays," Klimek said.

Two other Vikings reached double-figure scoring. Zach Monaghan tied Klimek for the game-high with 18, and Jack Konopka added 11.

"We'd like to be able to continue to do that," said Vikings coach Bob Widlowski of the offensive balance. "To continue to share the ball and pass the ball around will make us harder to guard."

Widlowski said he was proud of the Vikings defense when Glenbrook South chipped the lead down to 10 and 9 points.

"We kept our composure once it got down to nine," Widlowski said. "We got stops when it got to 9."

"We're excited," Monaghan said. "It's a good tradition to play in the Elgin tournament. It's good to play some nonconference teams and see some new defenses. They threw a zone at us and we were prepared."

Glenbrook South (2-6) played a 2-3 zone at the start of the game, and the Vikings were executed against it extremely well.

"We know what to expect," Monaghan said. "Our coaches do a great job on the scouting reports and we're ready for anything."

Jack Ryan scored 15 points for the Titans and Alex Garvey added 11.

Rolling Meadows 60, Batavia 55: With the game on the line, most people figure Rolling Meadows would get the ball into the hands of Mid-Suburban League leading scorer Richie Kemph.

But while Kemph scored 9 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, it was the play of sophomore point guard Brian Nelms down the stretch that enabled the Mustangs (4-6) to knock off Batavia 60-55 in Monday morning's opening round of the 35th annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament at Chesbrough Field House.

Nelms, who finished with 12 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, scored 6 consecutive points in the final 1:01 to help rally Meadows past the Bulldogs (5-4).

Moments after Batavia went up 55-53 on a layup by Elliot Vaughn (15 points) with 1:15 remaining, Nelms tied the score with a free-throw line jumper, then converted 4 straight foul shots to put the Mustangs on top 59-55.

"Brian did a nice job down the stretch," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "He was 6-for-6 from the line. That's a nice contribution for him as a sophomore."

Meadows, which led 44-36 after three quarters, fell behind on two separate occasions in the fourth period.

Vaughn capped a 9-0 run with a layup to give the Bulldogs a 45-44 lead before a 3-pointer by Kemph - his sixth of the game - allowed the Mustangs to retake a 47-45 advantage with 3:18 left.

"Obviously Richie scored - that's what he's good at," said Katovich, whose team faces defending champion Neuqua Valley (8-0) in today's 3:15 p.m. quarterfinals. "But I thought he also showed a lot of faith in his teammates."

Kemph, who poured in 18 first-half points, including five 3s, only had 1 field-goal attempt during the Mustangs' 16-9 third-quarter surge.

"That shows his maturity," said Katovich. "He had trust in his teammates."

The Mustangs also received a huge lift from sophomore guard Tyler Gaedele (8 points), who was called up to the varsity for the tourney. He canned a pair of 3s in the third quarter after Batavia employed a box-and-one defense on Kemph.

Kemph, an all-tournament selection at Elgin a year ago, was happy to see his team snap its three-game losing streak.

"This is a major breakthrough for us because we're close to .500 now," said Kemph. "If we're going to go what we want to do this year, we've got to start here."

Ricky Clopton finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Levi Maxey added 9 points and 8 boards for Batavia, which led 21-15 after one quarter before being outscored 29-15 over the middle two periods.

Kemph, who was 6-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc, had 11 of those points.

"They ran a lot of screens for him and he does a good job of playing off the screens," said Batavia coach Jim Roberts. "We've just got to do a little better job of finding him.

"We're on a rollercoaster. Sometimes we look pretty good and other times we're not executing. Consistency is going to be a big thing for us - not just tomorrow (Tuesday) but throughout the rest of the year."

Batavia faces Dundee-Crown (1-6) at 10:15 a.m. today.

Rockford Auburn 76, Elgin 60: All Elgin coach Mike Sitter wants for Christmas is a four-quarter effort from his Maroons, but their inconsistency in Monday's 76-60 loss to Rockford Auburn on opening day at the Elgin Holiday Tournament was more like a lump of coal.

Elgin (2-7) led Auburn (7-2), one of the tournament's top-four seeds, by 10 points in the second quarter and still held a 33-32 lead at the half. However, an 8-0 run at the outset of the third quarter by a revamped Knights lineup flipped the score, and the Maroons never pulled closer than within 4 points of the lead the rest of the way.

"We really need five guys busting their butts offensively and defensively to win and we didn't do that for four quarters," Sitter said. "We did that for about a quarter and a half. We can play with anyone in the state for about a quarter and a half. After that we've just kind of gone to pot this year. We need to sustain that enthusiasm."

At halftime both coaches stressed to their teams the importance of a strong start to the third quarter, but only Auburn took heed. With reserves senior Brandon Whitehorn and sophomore LaMar Foote inserted into the lineup to start the second half, the Knights dialed the defensive pressure up a notch, which ignited their running game.

Auburn opened the second half with a steal of the inbound pass by sophomore guard Fred VanVleet (game-high 18 points), who scored on a breakaway to give the Knights the lead. A steal and runout by Foote, and back-to-back baskets by junior Anthony Strickland (17 points) put Auburn ahead 40-33 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

"We shuffled the lineup a little bit thinking we could get a mix of guys that would go out there and pressure and that's what we did," Auburn coach Bryan Ott said.

Elgin twice closed the gap to 4 points - on a three-point play by sophomore Matt Andres with 3:30 left in the third quarter and on a baseline jump shot by freshman Arie Williams with 1:06 to play in the third - but a teardrop bucket from Auburn's Joseph Danforth and a short jumper by Strickland put the Knights ahead 53-45 heading to the fourth quarter.

"We never picked it up in the second half," said Jordan Dean, who led Elgin with 16 points. "I've said it before: If we want to win games, we have to play the same in the second half as we do in the first half."

Williams, making his varsity debut, scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The 5-foot-4 freshman hit his first 4 shots, including three 3-pointers.

Larkin 71, Guilford 63: Larkin has developed a knack for finishing strong in games played at Chesbrough Field House.

Seventeen days after the Royals blitzed rival Elgin with a 12-0 run to finish off a 71-62 victory at Chesbrough, Larkin used a 7-0 run in a span of 1:34 late in the fourth quarter to break free from a tie at 58 and beat Rockford Guilford 71-63 on the same court.

The Royals (7-3) will face Glenbard East (8-1) in the winners' bracket of the Elgin Holiday Tournament today at 6:30 p.m.

"We like this floor. It's our hometown," Larkin senior Jermaine Clements said. "We've got to do what we've got to do, especially here. No matter where we are in Elgin we have to do what we've gotta do to get the job done."

Larkin beat Guilford (3-6) in a game that featured 10 lead changes and four ties. The Royals took the lead for good on a set play drawn up during a timeout. Senior Ryan Smith received the inbound pass in left corner, caught and launched a 3-pointer that put Larkin ahead 61-58 with 3:41 to play.

"I just got the opening in the corner," said Smith, who finished with 13 points. "If I didn't have the shot, I was supposed to get it inside but I had the shot and I knocked it down."

"We drew some plays up but they don't look near as good if guys don't make the shots, and they did down the stretch," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said.

Clements scored in transition on a short baseline jump shot after freshman Carlito Singleton made his fourth steal of the game. Singleton capped the 7-0 run with a deft move through the lane, which resulted in a bucket off glass with 2:07 left to play and a 65-58 Larkin lead.

The Larkin attack was balanced with four players in double figures: Smith, Clements (17), post force Garrett McDaniel (12) and guard Ramadan Adili (12). Singleton and Drew Simonini each added 7 points. The contributions of reserves Clements and Adili helped the Larkin bench outscore the Guilford reserves 29-14.

"The key is if you have your starting five and you don't have anybody who can do anything off the bench, you're in trouble," Carter said. "A couple of those guys coming off the bench are high-talent, high-energy, high-effort guys and they're making plays for us."

Guilford led 35-32 at halftime and quickly moved to a 39-32 advantage on third-quarter baskets from junior Alonte Holliday (21 points) and junior Brandon Blankenship (14). Larkin rallied with a 10-2 run to take the lead, a surge highlighted by Singleton's 3-pointer and breakaway layup after a steal and capped by Clements' banked-in 3-pointer.

The Royals, who won 8 games last season, now face Glenbard East, one of the tournament's top four seeds.

"To be on the winners' side of the bracket is a big thing this year," Smith said. "We get to play one of the best teams in the state in Glenbard East. It's exciting. Just being 7-3 is a better season than last year and it's exciting to keep playing."

Hoffman 49, Wheaton North 44: Hoffman Estates completed a Mid-Suburban League sweep of its first-round games in the 35th Annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament on Monday.

And the Hawks did it with defense and clutch free-throw shooting in a 49-44 victory over Wheaton North.

Hoffman (6-3) joins Rolling Meadows, Fremd and Buffalo Grove in today's second round of the championship bracket. The Hawks will face Rockford Auburn, a 76-60 winner over host Elgin, at 8 p.m. today. Wheaton North (4-5) will battle Elgin at 1:30 p.m.

Jimmy Fabbrini's putback with 5:27 left in the opening quarter gave Hoffman a lead it would hold the rest of the game. But that lead was never safe, even when it reached 12 early in the fourth quarter.

"When we handle the ball, we look pretty impressive," said Hoffman coach Bill Wandro, whose team won despite 23 turnovers. "If we get the kinks out, we could be pretty good."

The Falcons equaled their three-quarter offensive output with a 22-point explosion in the fourth quarter, led by Jeff Schalk, who scored 15 of his game-high 24 points. Hoffman's defense held North to 8, 7 and 5 points in the first three quarters.

Wheaton North cut a 38-26 margin to 43-40 in less than five minutes and during that stretch Schalk scored 9 points.

"We were never able to get control of it," said Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos. "They kept us at arm's length. We got behind early, and that's something that hurt us."

Kevin Tiongson (team-high 10 points) showed his pressure performance from the foul line against Conant last Friday was no fluke by making all 6 of his fourth-quarter free throws. Joe Valadez was 4-of-6 from the line, including 2 free throws at the 1:01 mark and 2 more with 51.1 seconds left to give the Hawks a 47-40 edge.

Baskets by Schalk at the 37.5 mark and with 4.8 remaining weren't enough to catch Hoffman.

"In the past, it's been like that, where they've come back," Tiongson of a number of down-to-the-wire finishes. "In situations like that, we have to capitalize."

Four Hoffman players, Fabbrini, Valadez, Colin Conway and Brandon Fischer, each scored 7 points. Richard Finley added 9 for the Falcons.

John Juettner, Craig Brueske, Jerry Fitzpatrick and Larry Weindruch contributed to this report