South Elgin to play for Fenton title
South Elgin is on the move. In more ways than one.
The Storm's boys basketball team vaulted into Friday's championship game of the Fenton Thanksgiving Tournament with a 58-46 win Wednesday night over Libertyville.
But when the school first opened three years ago, who would've thought they'd be here now, unbeaten (3-0) and ready to face perennial powerhouse Naperville Central for the title of a major holiday event?
Head coach Chaz Taft couldn't be prouder of his bunch. The lightning quickness of his guard tandem of Tommy Childs and Alex Sanchez plus the strong inside play of 6-foot-9 Daniel Lopez and 6-3 Sam Jordt paced the effort.
"We get equal balance," from the starters and the bench, the frontline and the guards, said Taft, after Childs hit five straight shots in the second quarter to give the Storm the lead for good. The defense of Sanchez, Lopez, Erik Stade and Jordan Dobler, off the bench, helped maintain it. Childs finished with a game-high 21.
"We knew (Childs) was good," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil, whose team fell to 1-2. "He's fast. We scouted him and we knew he was quick, but we didn't know he was that quick."
Libertyville hung around on the play of Jeremy Letchford (17 points), who more than held his own against the taller Lopez inside, and rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Kevin Johns and the overall floor game of Josh Trees. But early foul trouble for Johns, Trees, Myles Burton and Paul Aynilian limited the Wildcats on offense and challenged an already thin, injury-riddled roster.
Still, at 1-2, the 'Cats believe they're better than their record and they'll prove it as the season progresses.
"We've been real competitive," in the tournament, so far, said Bogumil.
South Elgin, on the other hand, seems to have become more than competitive instantaneously. The Storm was sixth in this tournament two years ago, fifth last year, and now has a chance to win it all.
"This is our third year," in existence, Taft noted. "No one expected us to be in the championship game. Now we're playing Naperville Central."