Elgin surprises Stevenson, wins in OT

Elgin coach Mike Sitter left Buffalo Grove's gym Tuesday night with a memento he's certain to cherish forever.

BG athletic director Ryan O'Connor presented the game ball to Sitter to commemorate his first victory as a varsity head coach after the Maroons defeated Stevenson 68-58 in overtime at the Bison Classic.

"It feels great," said Sitter just moments after Maroons senior Jeremy Granger scored 10 of his game-high 31 points in OT to lead Elgin to victory. "It's been a long time coming."

"We played good team defense," added Granger. "We did what we had to do."

Senior guard Kevin Stineman's 20 points led the Patriots, who took the lead in the waning moments of regulation only to see Elgin tie things up to force overtime.

"We fought hard," said Stevenson (1-1) coach Pat Ambrose. "We didn't give up. We didn't play as well as we wanted to, especially early, but Elgin had a lot to do with that."

The Maroons held the lead through most of the first half but 6-foot-3 Stevenson forward Dylan Richter helped draw the Patriots into a halftime tie.

Elgin (1-1) scored the first 7 points of the second half behind Granger and senior Armani Williams (15 points), but Stevenson rallied as Richter scored 7 of his 18 points in the third quarter.

The Maroons led by 1 point in the late going when Stineman drove to the basket and kicked the ball out to Michael Goldstein, who buried a 3-pointer to give Stevenson a 52-50 lead.

But with only seconds remaining, Granger was fouled and made 2 free throws to send the game into an extra session.

"In overtime," said Granger, "our focus was to come out strong, score first, and play good defense."

The senior opened OT with a jumper, then 2 free throws, then drove the lane for a layup and 3-point play.

Maroons center D'Angelo Steware came up big in the post with 9 points, while Kenny Williams and Tom Roth both hit 2 clutch free throws in overtime to seal the win.

"We knew what we were up against," said Sitter. "Stevenson has a great program -- they finished fourth in state last year. But we're a senior-dominated team, and we know how to finish."

"We improved so much from Game 1 (a loss to Buffalo Grove) to Game 2. This is a team that was searching for an identity, and I think we found it tonight."