Elgin puts the clamps on South Elgin
The Elgin boys basketball team’s goal is to limit every opponent to 40 points or less, but the Maroons didn’t approach that number in last Friday’s 66-64 triple-overtime loss at Geneva.
Elgin has since spent the bulk of its practice time polishing its defensive approach.
“After the Geneva game our coach preached on defense so hard,” Elgin guard Arie Williams said. “It was all defensive drills and everything all week.”
All that polish yielded a shining defensive result in a 47-25 win at South Elgin Wednesday. The Maroons limited the Storm to an average of 1 field-goal attempt per minute on 8-of-32 shooting to bounce back from their first loss of the season with an Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory.
Elgin (5-1) held South Elgin (4-3) to 8 total field goals. The Maroons allowed only 3 points in the first quarter and led 19-11 at halftime.
“I love the way we came out,” said Elgin senior Kory Brown, who blocked 5 shots to go with 10 points and 10 rebounds. “It looked like everyone’s mind was set on defense. Our defense sets up our offense, and that’s where we got most of our points. A lot of help side, a lot of blocked shots.”
South Elgin stayed within shouting distance for a while by running an offense as deliberate as a sunrise. A long 2-pointer by Devonte Everett and a 3-pointer from Darius Wells drew the Storm within 24-16 two minutes into the second half.
However, South Elgin left Williams wide open on the counterattack after Wells’ 3-pointer. The 5-foot-8 sniper buried a shot from beyond the arc to restore a double-digit cushion. Williams finished with 20 points to lead all scorers.
“We knock down a 3 and we’re down 8, then we had a miscommunication at the other end,” South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said of the defensive lapse.
Williams’ 3-pointer ignited a 13-4 Elgin run to close the third quarter. That surge included a sharp three-point play by Gerardo Mojica, who scored on a press-breaking bounce pass from Brown. Elgin led 37-20 at the end of three quarters.
Playing without senior guard Willy Gagic (broken nose), South Elgin never scored more than 9 points in a quarter.
“Defensively, we did what we wanted to do,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “We shut them down and kept them in the twenties. And we really handled their shooters. We got a hand in everybody’s face, we rebounded well and we ran the floor. I’m very happy with our performance.”
The South Elgin locker room wasn’t as warm and fuzzy.
“We question our leadership right now,” Taft said. “You can’t talk Xs and Os, you can’t do anything without addressing the leadership.
“We’re too emotional. We’re out there worrying about everyone else’s calls and the fouls and this and that and not worrying about our game. Right now we don’t have any leadership. We’ll have to find that.”
Wells led South Elgin with 8 points. Junior point guard Jake Maestranzi was held to 5 points.