Roth shoots Elgin past St. Charles East

Tom Roth enjoyed an up-and-down night Friday in St. Charles.

After scoring 16 first-half points, Elgin's senior guard was held scoreless in the third quarter and managed to hit just 3 of his first 8 free-throw attempts.

However, Roth was at his best down the stretch, making 1 of his game-high 6 steals while converting 3 free throws in the final 24.3 seconds to help lift the Maroons (7-10, 2-2) to a 49-45 Upstate Eight Conference victory over host St. Charles East (3-13, 1-4).

"Thank the Lord I hit those in the fourth quarter," said Roth, who poured in 21 points while splitting 12 free throws. "I couldn't hit anything from the free-throw line today but I hit them when it counted.

"This was a big win for us."

St. Charles East, which came into the game having won 3 of its last 4, took a 45-43 lead on a layup by 6-foot-7 senior center Kevin Senechalle (14 points) with 4:06 left.

But the Maroons kept the Saints off the scoreboard the rest of the way, tying the game at 45 on a baseline drive by Steve Edwards (13 points) with 2:08 remaining before Roth's clutch free throws.

"This is the point last year with the really good guards we had where we'd ice it and control the game in the fourth quarter," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter. "We haven't been able to do that this year. This was the first time all year where our three guards, (Aleks) Kanlic, Edwards and Roth, stepped up and controlled the tempo for the final four minutes of the game.

"That's good because if we do that in the postseason, we win games in March."

Roth's big first half came at the right time for the Maroons, as senior center Marcus Redburg was saddled on the bench after being whistled for his third foul with 5:29 left in the second quarter.

Elgin led 26-22 at the intermission.

"Tom did a nice job keeping us in it in the first half when Marcus was in foul trouble," said Sitter. "And Marcus did a nice job of playing smarter in the second half."

Redburg tallied 7 of his 9 points in the third quarter, but the Saints outscored Elgin 19-13 to go up 41-39 heading into the final period.

However, 11 second-half turnovers eventually came back to bite the Saints ­­­- especially come crunchtime.

"You can't win giving 20 turnovers (22) to their 10," said Saints coach Brian Clodi. "And they're always at the most inopportune time. It just comes down to taking care of the basketball.

"The truth of this game is that we shot 75 percent from inside the (3-point) arc but we've got to be disciplined enough to get the ball inside."

Zach Scott paced the Saints with 15 points.