It's all on the line tonight
Rockford Boylan won a thrilling boys basketball semifinal in comeback style against host Jacobs on Tuesday.
Elgin played "top this" by beating Hononegah on a last-second shot in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
As intense and exciting as those games were, each might pale in comparison to what Boylan (25-4) and Elgin (20-9) could have in store for fans in tonight's Class 4A Jacobs boys basketball sectional final at 7:30 p.m.
The streaking Maroons, who have won 7 in a row and 14 of their last 16, are scoring an average of 69.5 points per game in 4 postseason wins.
Boylan, whose top six players average between 8.3 and 12.2 points per game, scores an average of 71.9 points per outing.
The offensive outputs might be similar, but how Elgin and Boylan go about scoring those points is anything but.
"We'll want to play up and down with them, and they're going to want to slow it down and get reversals," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "So we'll see whose style of play wins."
Elgin's style of play won out against the Indians in Wednesday's 79-77 victory, particularly in the second quarter, when the Maroons scored 33 points, including eight 3-pointers in 10 attempts.
The senior guard tandem of Jeremy Granger (23 points) and Armani Williams (19 points) were responsible for the bulk of Elgin's scoring. Each sank 5 of the team's 16 total baskets from 3-point range.
"When a team has 16 3s and shoots as well as they do, that's very tough," said coach Steve Goers, now in his 28th season at Boylan. "Williams shoots it from anywhere. That'll be a very, very tough assignment. We'll look at our various options.
"But the truth of the matter is they're going to have to stop us. It's not a situation where it's just worrying about them offensively. It's a little bit vice versa. We have to be efficient on offense. If we are efficient on offense, hopefully, we'll make one more stop than they do."
The Titans, who shared the NIC-10 Conference title this season with Hononegah, are strong in the post with leading scorer Zach Opheim (12.2 ppg.), Stephon Valentine (10.6) and Phil Riggs (9.5), each of whom was a key contributor on last year's team that advanced to the Class AA Elite Eight in Peoria.
"They're going to pound it inside," Sitter said. They've got two or three post guys who rotate from block to block, so we're really going to have to batten down the hatches inside the lane and rebound the ball. (Elgin center) D'Angelo (Stewart) is going to have to step up and play huge for us and stay out of foul trouble. I think that's key."
Said Stewart: "We just have to play defense. If we play help defense, we'll be alright."
Elgin High School has won 20 sectional titles in boys basketball, most recently in 1998 when the team advanced to the Class AA Elite Eight.
Boylan has won 17 sectional titles.
The winner advances to Tuesday's NIU supersectional against the winner of the tonight's Barrington sectional final between No. 7 Schaumburg (19-9) and No. 1 Zion-Benton (29-3).
The Elgin-Boylan sectional championship game can be heard on WEPS FM 88.9, starting with announcers Jeff Meyers and Kyle Bault, beginning at 7:15 p.m.
Benson earns honor:ŒWestminster Christian senior Joel Benson was named Class 1A/2A second team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Thursday afternoon in Peoria.
Benson, who is committed to play at North Park University next year, averaged 18 points and 14 rebounds this season and was named Private School League Player of the Year.