Wrap: West Aurora rebounds; Elgin stuns Waubonsie

Theo Hicks led all scorers with 14 points as the West Aurora (16-5, 8-3) knocked off West Chicago 63-41.

Derrick Johnson added 12 points.

Aurora Christian 69, Westminster Christian 64:ŒThe Eagles clinched third place in the Private School League Tournament as they topped the Warriors in Aurora. Marcus Barnes had 21 points and Joe Redmond scored 17.

Elgin 73, Waubonsie Valley 58:ŒElgin's boys basketball team earned the signature victory it had been seeking all season with a 73-58 win over previously unbeaten Upstate Eight Conference leader Waubonsie Valley at Elgin's Chesbrough Field House Friday night.

Elgin guard Armani Williams sank six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 30 points, guard Jeremy Granger added 17 points and 6-foot-4 junior forward Marcus Redburg gave the Maroons a strong presence in the post with 16 points off the bench, 10 of which he notched in the fourth quarter to keep the Warriors from staging a comeback.

"We all came together, we played hard, we played like a team," Williams said. "All five of us wanted to play. We played for each other."

The win was the ninth in 11 games in 2008 for Elgin, which improved to 15-9, 6-3.

The loss dropped Waubonsie Valley (20-5, 8-1) into a tie with Neuqua Valley (20-7, 8-1) with one league game remaining for each team.

Neuqua plays its conference finale next Friday at Larkin (1-22, 0-9). Waubonsie plays at St. Charles East (12-12, 5-4).

Elgin's 73 points were the most surrendered by the Warriors this season. The Maroons' energetic man-to-man defense helped force 18 Waubonsie Valley turnovers, miscues that fueled the Elgin transition game. Elgin shot 26 of 51 from the field (51 percent) as a result.

"We came out super flat," Warriors senior Kevin VandenBerg said. "I don't want to make excuses. There are no good excuses. They outplayed us."

Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer warned his players all week of the threat Elgin posed to no avail.

"It's kind of like when their parents tell them, 'I told you so,' " Weemer explained. "I told these guys all week that Elgin was a very dangerous team, they can score in bunches and we've got a target on our backs so they're going to come after us.

"We were flatter than a pancake. They played well. They deserve a lot of credit. I mean, Armani was unbelievable tonight and Granger played well tonight. Our guys were flat, we didn't respond to the challenge."

Senior guard Justin Peaster led Waubonsie Valley with 16 points while senior Josh Daniels scored 14.

Elgin grabbed a 29-26 at halftime when Granger sidestepped VandenBerg to sink a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Williams took over in the third quarter, hitting three straight 3-point attempts on his way to a 15-point period and a 53-47 Elgin lead heading to the final eight minutes.

Redburg was a difference-maker in the fourth, when he scored 4 baskets in the paint and sank 2 free throw attempts.

"This feels real good," Redburg said. "It's been kind of a disappointing season, so it feels good to come out and knock off one of the better teams in the conference."

Elgin coach Mike Sitter, who mainly stressed defense all week in practice, was encouraged by the result.

"Usually we back down from opponents that are bigger and tougher and scrappier than we are, and tonight we didn't," Sitter said. "Tonight we pushed back. If we do that, we'll play some games in March this year."

-- Jerry Fitzpatrick

Wheaton Warrenville South 57, Naperville Central 45:ŒThe DuPage Valley Conference leaders aren't the only ones having a say in deciding the eventual champion.

Wheaton Warrenville South's boys basketball team took a chunk out of Naperville Central's hopes by beating the Redhawks 57-45 Friday in Wheaton.

With two DVC games remaining, including one tonight, Naperville Central is a game back and tied with West Aurora for second place. Wheaton North, which beat Glenbard East on Friday, is now alone in first place.

"It's tough to see your cross-town rival get a shot at conference, but it's good to beat a DVC team on your home floor in front of a good crowd," said Tigers senior Byron Given, who scored a team-high 19 points. "It is kind of nice to be the spoiler."

The Tigers (14-9, 6-6) broke out to an 18-8 first-half lead, knocking down five of their seven 3-pointers on the night. Given had three of them, and added two more in the fourth quarter.

The only thing keeping Naperville Central (17-7, 9-3) close was 6-foot-4 sophomore center Matt Neufeld, who scored all of his team's 14 first-half points to hold the Redhawks within 21-14.

Despite a fourth-quarter flurry of points, Naperville Central never pulled closer than 6 points away. Drew Crawford scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. Neufeld finished with 16.

The loss ends the Redhawks' six-game winning streak overall, as well as their nine-game winning streak in the conference.

"I don't think we did a good job of moving the ball and being patient on offense, and that's a credit to them," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "We fell behind and we played catch up the rest of the night. It's a good learning experience, and we just have to get it back on track."

The Redhawks play host to West Chicago tonight before finishing DVC play Wednesday at Wheaton North. The Tigers go for a sweep of their three DVC games this week in tonight's game at home against Naperville North.

WW South's torrid perimeter shooting continued for a second straight game -- as did the Tigers' balanced scoring. Dane Olson tallied 9 points, Sam Carlson had 8, Kendrick Perry 7 points and Derek Babb and Dan Phillip each scored 6 points.

The Tigers nailed 16 of 20 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts to seal the win.

"We'll be happy for a little bit, but then it's back to work," said Tigers coach Mike Healy. "It's that time of year where you have to keep moving forward."

-- Kevin Schmit

East Aurora 84, Streamwood 60:ŒNot much has gone right for Streamwood's boys basketball team this season.

The Sabres (5-19, 1-8) are a team in need of a break, and going into Friday night's Upstate Eight clash at East Aurora it appeared they had caught one before the game had started.

The Tomcats played short-handed after suspending two of their starters for violating team rules, something Streamwood might've been able to take advantage of, and turn a tough trip to Aurora into a win.

Except, it didn't work out that way.

East Aurora displayed its quickness, athleticism, and most of all its depth, and improved to 15-9, and 4-5 in the conference with an 84-60.

"We tried to prepare for this, but you really can't simulate what they do when you don't have the kind of athletes that East Aurora does," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "We'd make a little bit of a run, but then we'd commit a turnover here and there. I'm disappointed we didn't take better care of the ball."

Beyond the issue of taking care of the ball, something which was underscored by 24 turnovers, the Sabres lacked any sort of balanced scoring. For most of the game, just three players were responsible for all of Streamwood's points.

Tem Esikiel was tops among those three. The junior scored 27 points and swiped 5 steals.

"He's been playing like that for the last month," Jones said. "He did it within the frame of the offense."

T.J. Enno also did his part for Streamwood, scoring 19 while pulling down 10 boards.

"(Enno) has been doing that for us all year," Jones said.

East Aurora's William Brown did not start the game, coach Wendell Jeffries explained that other players had earned that right in practice. But once the senior entered the game he went to work and led the Tomcats to a 23-11 lead after one quarter. Brown hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter, then slashed and dashed through the Sabre defense in the second.

-- Henry Perez