Elgin nips Dundee-Crown for title
The Elgin boys basketball knows it can’t play the way it did in the regionals to reach any more of its goals.
But the Maroons can enjoy their 41st regional championship and first since 2008 thanks to a 36-35 victory over Dundee-Crown on Friday night in the Class 4A Larkin regional championship game.
“It’s a party right now,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “You want to celebrate, but we also know it wasn’t very pretty. I wish we played better.”
The Maroons (22-5), who were the top regional seed, beat two .500 or worse opponents by a combined 3 points during regional play. Elgin beat Streamwood in the semifinals on a Kory Brown last-second shot. The Maroons got by the Chargers (13-14) thanks to a pair of free throws from senior Jordan Dean with 5.3 seconds left.
“It shows us that we do have some stuff to work on for this next level because we know it’s going to be even tougher,” said Brown, who scored 7 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.
Elgin will play Huntley (24-4), which won the Prairie Ridge regional 34-32 over McHenry on Friday, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals of the Jacobs sectional. South Elgin takes on Rockford Auburn Wednesday and the winners meet next Friday for the sectional title and a trip to the NIU supersectional March 15.
The Maroons were able to move on by rallying from a 5-point fourth-quarter deficit. D-C’s Brandon Rodriguez, who finished with a team-high 14 points, scored 35 seconds into the fourth to give the Chargers a 33-28 lead. Elgin scored the next 6 points to take a 34-33 lead with 1:03 remaining after Matt Andres hit 1 of 2 free throws. The teams traded missing a pair of free-throw attempts.
D-C senior Ryan Smith hit 2 free throws with 17.8 seconds left to give the Chargers a 35-34 lead.
Dean drove left in the paint and was fouled with 5.3 seconds remaining. The lone senior in the Elgin rotation hit both free throws for a 36-35 lead. The Chargers never got a shot off as Smith’s pass attempt to Jamel Kimbrough was knocked out of bounds just as the buzzer sounded.
“It wasn’t really a designed play,” Dean said. “I took it upon myself to be aggressive.”
The Maroons shot just 33 percent (12-of-36), but committed only 8 turnovers, none in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers didn’t lead until 5:23 remained in the third quarter. Rodriguez scored and was fouled, though he missed the free throw, to give D-C a 25-23 lead. The Chargers shot 43 percent (16-of-37) and outrebounded Elgin 30-21 but went just 2-of-9 from the free-throw line.
“We definitely had our opportunities,” D-C coach Lance Huber said. “The kids don’t mean to miss them, but it definitely hurts when you’re 2 out of (9). But at the same time, Elgin made the shots they needed to.”
Dean led the Maroons with 12 points. Dennis Moore added 7 points and 4 rebounds.
Kimbrough had 12 points, 8 in the first quarter, and 8 rebounds for the Chargers. Smith finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds.
“(Elgin) has a lot of different weapons,” Smith said. “It’s not like we knew where (the final play) was going. We just had to play good team defense and hope for the best. (Dean) just split a gap, got the foul and that was it.”