Butler leads Elgin past Streamwood
Isaiah Butler felt like the Elgin boys basketball team “fell asleep” for about 3 minutes to finish the first quarter Friday night.
Other than those 3 minutes, the Maroons were in control throughout. Elgin lost an 11-point lead in the first quarter before outscoring Streamwood by 14 in the second en route to a 73-58 Upstate Eight River Division victory in Streamwood.
“We were sagging off on defense. We weren’t applying good defense,” Butler said. “We got it back though.”
Butler scored 9 points and Desmond Sanders added 8 as the Maroons (3-5, 1-0) led 19-8 with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter. The Sabres (1-5, 0-2) went on a 12-0 run to take a 20-19 lead with 18 seconds remaining in the quarter. Jacob Siewert had 6 points and Antonio Harris had 4 during the run.
A 3-pointer from Cole Seger 30 seconds into the second quarter gave Streamwood a 23-21 lead. Elgin responded with an game-changing 18-2 run, which included a pair of 3-pointers from Butler, to take a 39-25 lead with 2:25 remaining in the half.
“Our defense was atrocious,” Sabres coach Paul Kowalyszyn said. “When you give up seventy-something (points) you can’t beat anybody.”
The Maroons led 42-27 at halftime. Streamwood got within 6, 47-41, after a 3-pointer from Jacob McGlone with 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Elgin increased the lead back into double figures less than 2½ minutes later. The Sabres wouldn’t get any closer than 8 the rest of the game.
Butler led all scorers with 28 points, including hitting 3 3-pointers and hitting all 7 of his free-throw attempts.
“He is definitely our offensive catalyst,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “When he gets going he gets everyone else open. All of a sudden Streamwood had to collapse on him.”
Sanders added 14 points and 9 rebounds for Elgin. Ryan Sitter had 11 points. Donte Harper and Kiko Mari each had 8.
Siewert led Streamwood with 14 points. Seger finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Harris added 11 points and McGlone had 10.