Big second half puts Streamwood over Elgin

Getting your first conference win can be a difficult thing to do. It gets a lot easier when you score three points more in one quarter than you have all game.

Streamwood was able to score 26 points in the third quarter and jump ahead to an 18-point lead as the Sabres picked up their first win in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division, beating Elgin 65-50 Thursday night in girls basketball action at Elgin’s Chesbrough Field House.

With six different players scoring at least once in the third, the Sabres (2-5, 1-1) were able to build on what was just a 4-point halftime lead and turn it into a 49-31 rout going into the fourth.

“We missed layups in the first half and we had silly turnovers in the first half,” Sabres coach George Rosner said. “We said we’re getting good shots, we just have to make them, which we did. We got good looks (to the basket) and were able to convert them.”

From the field, Streamwood only shot 25 percent and only made 6 baskets in the first half, clinging to a lead thanks to Elgin’s own shooting troubles (6 of 25 from the field and 7 of 15 from the free-throw line). The Sabres knew something had to change at half.

Enter Hannah McGlone, who had 8 points at the break and finished with 24, scoring 12 in the third quarter, and 10 rebounds.

McGlone started to play around the rim more in the third, thanks to some urging from her coach, and the offense was able to kick into high-gear and get those better looks.

“I wasn’t playing so much down low as I should have been,” McGlone said. “After Rosner told me to start going down low, I started to go down low and do what I’m supposed to do, do what I’m good at.”

With attention on McGlone and Jenejha Williams, who finished with 5 points, around the basket, Holly Foret, who finished with 16 points and had 4 3-pointers, and Cayla Hawkins, who finished with 5 points, were able to use the deep ball to extend the lead.

Finishing the night at just over 30 percent from the field, the Maroons (3-4, 0-2) were unable to keep pace and create turnovers like they did in the first half, thanks in large part to early foul trouble.

“We got into foul trouble (early in the third), we had to sit some girls who had four fouls and that hurt us,” Maroons’ coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said. “It turned in to a foul shooting contest and I’d be willing to guess that we were below 50 percent. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and we didn’t shoot too well either.”

Elgin was 16-for-35 from the line to end the night but almost mounted a fourth-quarter comeback thanks to Maggie Powers and Melanie Berg, who sat the entire third quarter in foul trouble.

Powers finished with 15 points, good for the team lead, while going 6 of 10 from the line. Berg had 8 points and 4 rebounds for the Maroons, who get over a week off before playing Larkin next Friday at home.

The Sabres also get a week’s worth of rest before they host Geneva in another UEC River matchup.