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South Elgin leads wire-to-wire in win over Bartlett

South Elgin started fast and never let up. The Storm scored the first 11 points and never looked back in downing host Bartlett, 54-35, in Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball action in Bartlett Thursday night.

The game matched two Upstate Eight contenders, but it didn't count in the conference standings. The teams will meet in a conference matchup in March.

The Storm led 33-13 at halftime and basically held serve throughout the second half. Bartlett, which made 14 3-pointers in a win against Streamwood on Tuesday, couldn't buy one early and made just 4 on the night.

Aaron Wafford scored 15 points for the Storm. The 6-foot-2 senior capped his evening with a fourth-quarter dunk on the fastbreak.

"That's what we talked about yesterday and into this morning," said Storm coach Brett Johnson. "We've got to come out quicker. Because if we set the tone right away, it's hard to push us when that's the place we want to play at. If you make your shots early, you're going to give yourself an opportunity."

Drew Cwik added 14 points and Jacob Pettineo 10 for South Elgin (5-1). Wafford dished out 5 assists and grabbed 3 rebounds.

"We wanted to come out strong fast and we were able to knock down some shots early," said Wafford.

The Storm clamped down on Bartlett big man Conrad Luczynski, holding him to 3 first-half points. Luczynski finished with 9 points and added 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 4 assists. Ian Smith scored 10 points for Bartlett (4-2). Clark Lewis added 6 on a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.

"[Luczynski] is 7 feet tall, he's going to create problems across the board," Johnson said, "But I was proud of the effort of the guys guarding him and the communication and our desire to just get down and dig out a full-court game tonight."

Cwik, Pettineo and Wafford made 3-pointers and Wafford added a 2-pointer as the Storm opened up a big early lead. They extended it to 17-2 and 23-5.

Bartlett missed its first 6 shots and turned it over 5 times before a Smith layup finally got the Hawks on the board.

A 9-3 Bartlett run to open the second half made it 36-22, but the Hawks could get no closer.

The Storm finished 10-of-26 from long range.

Wafford's dunk, set up by a Brian Vesta steal, capped the South Elgin scoring as both teams emptied their benches shortly thereafter.

  Bartlett's George Betevis splits South Elgin's defense comprised of Derek Richardson and Jacob Pettineo as he shoots in the varsity basketball matchup at Bartlett High School on Thursday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Bartlett's Conrad Luczynski uses all of his 7 foot 2 inch height to block the shot of South Elgin's Jay-Q Jones in the varsity basketball matchup at Bartlett High School on Thursday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Bartlett's Nathan Scearce blocks the drive of South Elgin's Drew Cwik in the second quarter in the varsity basketball matchup at Bartlett High School on Thursday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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