St. Charles East hands Elgin first loss
In a game that included five ties and nine lead changes, it only seemed fitting that the outcome would be determined in the final minute.
Matt Ray's layup with 43 seconds remaining off a nice feed from Spencer Motley broke a 41-all deadlock and helped lift St. Charles East's basketball team to a hard-fought, 43-41 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over Elgin Saturday night in St. Charles.
After the Saints (1-5, 1-1) called a timeout with 1:29 remaining, they held the ball until Motley found a wide-open Ray under the basket for the game-winner.
“We wanted to get the last shot and spread them out,” said Motley, who finished with 9 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. “I saw an opening when they overplayed me and I got to the basket and dished it off.”
“It (the ball) was going to end up in Spencer's hands because he's our best 1-on-1 guy,” said Saints coach Brian Clodi, whose team snapped a 5-game losing streak to open the season. “They forced him to go in the lane and it was there. He delivered a perfect bounce pass for an easy layup.”
Off to its first 4-0 start since 2002, Elgin (4-1, 0-1) still had a few chances to either win it or force overtime in the final seconds.
Dennis Moore (10 points) misfired on a 3-pointer from the corner with 20 seconds left but Devin Gilliam's offensive rebound gave the Maroons another opportunity that went unfulfilled when Kory Brown's 15-foot banker hit the backboard and fell off the front rim.
Matt Andres' off-balance putback attempt fell well short at the buzzer. “We were trying to go with a 2-man game with Kory and Dennis, and they switched (Kendall) Stephens out on Kory,” said Elgin coach Mike Sitter. “I really wanted Dennis to take his man off the dribble and he passed on it.”
Stephens shared team scoring honors with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots in the Saints' best defensive outing of the season.
“He did a good job,” said Clodi. “We were not going to help so when he (Brown) isolated, Kendall had to do his best, don't foul and just try to contest it. He forced him into a leaner.”
Ray (8 points) helped the Saints' bench to an 11-1 edge on the Maroons, while Johnny Hondlik and Charlie Fisher each added 6 points.
“We made one extra play than they did,” Clodi said, “and we got three stops when we needed them late. These kids have fought so hard to get a win finally.”
“It's huge,” added Motley. “The first win is so hard to get.”
According to Sitter, a lot of little things added up to the Maroons' first loss.
“There were two missed breakaway layups where kids don't use the backboard, and a lot of missed free throws,” said Sitter. “Then we're up two with two minutes left and get called for a five-second call. That cost us a regional game last year against South Elgin (46-40 loss) and obviously we haven't learned our lesson.”
Sophomore point guard Arie Williams scored a game-high 12 points for Elgin, which also committed 16 turnovers.
“Ugly, ugly basketball,” said Sitter. “That's the kind of game you think you're going to see opening day. Somehow, we waited a week into the season to drop that performance on the public.
“We just didn't come to play.”