Brown, Elgin slam Metea Valley
Elgin senior Kory Brown wanted Friday night to be memorable.
In his final game at Chesbrough Field House, Brown gave the fans reason to get on their feet with his final basket — a one-handed dunk off a Dennis Moore steal — as the Maroons defeated Metea Valley, 59-50, in the Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball crossover game between the two division winners.
“For the seniors it’s the last time touching this court,” Brown said. “We love this school.”
Brown, who was named the River Division MVP, finished with a game-high 21 points to move into fifth place on the Elgin all-time scoring list. Brown now has 1,210 points, passing Marcus Smallwood (1,201). With a deep postseason run, Brown could reach Rick Hopkins, who had 1,292 points.
“He’s obviously a huge talent,” Mustangs coach Bob Vozza said. “We did the best we could on him.”
The Mustangs (22-4) started quickly, grabbing a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. Ryan Soloman went 4-for-5, including hitting 2 2-pointers, in the opening quarter.
Elgin (23-3) turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter. A Brown steal led to two Moore free throws to tie the game at 18-18 with 2:35 remaining in the first half. Brown game the Maroons their first lead, 20-18, with a baseline drive and reverse dunk with 1:54 left in the second quarter. The game was tied 22-22 at halftime.
There were five lead changes in the third quarter until Elgin went on a 10-0 run to take control. With Metea Valley leading 29-28, Brown’s offensive rebound and putback was his 13th and 14th points to pass Smallwood. That sparked the decisive run. Brown laid in an alley-oop from Moore. Arie Williams hit two technical free throws and a basket in the paint. Cortez Scott, who finished with 18 points, capped the run with a pair of free throws with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.
“Still thought it was going to go down to the wire. We kind of lost our composure in the third quarter,” Vozza said. “We let their pretty good defense get in our heads a little bit.”
The Mustangs got within six twice in the fourth, but could not get any closer. The Maroons led by as many as 14 after Brown’s final dunk and free throw with 36.2 seconds remaining.
“(Friday) was my dad’s birthday. I was like, ‘Guys, let’s go out there and do this for my dad,’ ” said Brown, who added 14 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 blocks. “And for ourselves as well. We did.”
Soloman led Metea Valley with 16 points, but only six in the final three quarters, and 6 rebounds. Kenny Obendorf, who was named the Valley Division MVP, scored 13 points, 11 coming in the second half.
Moore added 9 points, including going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Williams finished with 8 points. The Maroons went 22-for-24 from the foul line.
“It’s a weird game. It’s a nonconference game technically,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “I told Bob before the game, we’re both 22-3, and one of us is going into regionals on a loss. That’s the only downside of having that crossover championship.”