Marengo too much for Elgin

The Elgin girls basketball team will take the positives from Friday’s 61-27 loss to Marengo and continue to grow.

The most positive aspect was a 7-1 Elgin run to open the game, spearheaded by 2 buckets from sophomore guard Maggie Powers and a basket from center Briana Hamilton.

“Our communication was a lot better than it has been,” Hamilton said of the good start. “I think we were ready to play. We had the confidence that we needed. I think we got a little winded after that and kind of lost it.”

Marengo (1-1) didn’t waver. The Indians outscored the Maroons 19-2 to end the first quarter, took a 32-15 lead at the half and used an 18-4 third quarter to put away Elgin (0-2) at the Burlington Central Thanksgiving Tournament Friday.

“They were playing with some confidence offensively, going to the basket,” Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said of the good beginning. “They were doing a nice job. They got a turnover or two and we were in the right spots. I don’t want to use the term intimidated, but I think we had the upper hand early.”

Marengo junior Jessica Villie and senior Allison Ragutich helped reverse the game’s flow in a hurry. Villie scored 14 points, Raguitch scored 12, and 5-foot-10 senior Kourtney Heitz added 9 points to fuel the Indians.

“We weren’t really taken aback by it,” Ragutich said of Elgin’s good start. “We just refocused and stayed patient and we started growing into the game. We ran our offense the right way and played tight defense.”

Elgin was led by Hamilton’s 17-point, 6-rebound effort. In an effort to keep the ball from reaching Hamilton, the Indians pressed the Maroons, resulting in 26 Elgin turnovers.

“We had some turnovers and we fell back into some of our old habits and let things snowball,” Bumbales said. “We had some situations where we weren’t in very good position defensively, we weren’t contesting some shots, we weren’t getting back on defense. We put ourselves in some bad positions defensively and that really hurt us.”

Bumbales spoke of what his team did right at the start.

“It’s nice to see we’ve got two minutes where it’s pretty good,” he said. “I told the girls next game let’s make it four minutes. Then eight. Then 16. Once we get to that point, we’re going to beat somebody.”

Powers finished with 8 points for Elgin. She tweaked her ankle in a loss to Burlington Central on Tuesday and reaggravated the injury in the first quarter.