South Elgin handles Jacobs for 1st win

After tough losses to host Dundee-Crown and parochial powers Boylan Catholic and St. Viator, South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack wanted to end the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament with a positive vibe.

The Storm got the results they were looking for with a 47-32 win over Jacobs Tuesday afternoon.

"We played a true road game against Dundee-Crown and played against 2 very good Catholic schools in Boylan and St. Viator," said Mandernack. "We held our own against 3 very good opponents. We were highly motivated with a sense of urgency to get our first win of the season. We didn't shoot the ball from the outside but got some penetration inside. We wanted to throw the first punch and felt we did. Our helter skelter offense worked for the most part."

Limiting Jacobs (0-4) to 4 first half baskets, South Elgin (1-3) stormed to a 26-12 lead at half.

Spearheaded by 8 from Liz Schwartz, who scored all of the Golden Eagles' 20 points in the second half, Jacobs climbed within 11 of the Storm 31-20 with 2:33 left in the third quarter. The Eagles couldn't get any closer.

South Elgin's biggest lead of the game was 20, 45-25 after a putback from Madison Waichunas with 1:45 left in the contest.

Megan McClure paced the winners with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists.

"We practiced hard after every loss trying to get better," said McClure. "We came out with high energy really wanting to win. This is a great win for our confidence."

Mandernack praised McClure's effort.

"Megan did a great job of taking to the basket," said the South Elgin coach. "She is a returning all-conference (Upstate Eight) player capable of playing all 5 positions."

Waichunas backed McClure with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Schwartz was amazing in a losing cause scoring 25 of the Eagles' 32 points.

"Liz kept us in the game," said Jacobs coach Jon Reibel. "She was aggressive offensively and got a lot of good shots. She was in the flow of the game."

Reibel is keeping a positive attitude despite an 0-4 record.

"These girls have played only zone defense and now we are asking them to play man-to-man," said Reibel. "It is a huge adjustment. We want our kids to play tough mentally and physically at both ends of the court. We know we have more than just Liz as a scorer. We are finding our rotation and we see the light at the end of the tunnel. We want to be playing our best basketball in February."