Konkle, Metea Valley too much for South Elgin
Metea Valley center Mark Konkle expected to see South Elgin's 6-foot 10 center Tyler Hankins crowding him around the glass in the Mustangs' 83-51 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division boys basketball blowout of the Storm in South Elgin Friday night.
Instead, with Hankins in street clothes until the end of January due to injury and Konkle's 6-foot-6 frame giving the senior a 4-inch height advantage against his defenders, the cup was free and the game plan was to get the ball inside to the 235-pounder and the rest would take care of itself.
Konkle's 26 points and 13 rebounds certainly did just that for the Mustangs, who bounced back from a loss to West Aurora and snapped the Storm's modest win streak at two.
"When we saw that mismatch they definitely called my number a little bit and it was my job to step up," said Konkle, who helped outrebound the Storm 31-21. "(My teammates) did a nice job of getting me in the right positions."
Konkle's 11 points in the first quarter allowed him to register a game-high in points, which pushed the Mustangs (5-4, 3-2) out to a 25-11 advantage. In the midst of that, Metea Valley used a 20-0 run in a six-minute span that bridged the first and second quarters, as Konkle finished with 20 at the half as all of his points on the night besides 6 free throws came in the paint, including 6 second-chance points to go along with his 7 offensive rebounds.
"(Ronnie Edwards) was able to get the ball and go up the floor a little bit and then Mark did a good job of running the floor," said Mustangs' coach Bob Vozza, whose team scored 36 in the paint. "And when (Konkle) got there in the post, just good fundamental basketball by him with his back to the basket."
Making matters worse for the Storm (4-5, 2-3) was Edwards' 21 points from the perimeter. He and Konkle made for a lethal inside-outside dose as Edwards drained two 3-point shots while Nick Dodson drained 4 plus a free throw for his 13 points. Metea Valley nailed 8 from deep as PJ Archey's 7 points late came on two 3-pointers while the Mustangs scorched the Storm's nets for a 55.5 percent clip from the field, making 30 shots against the zone.
"We played well tonight," said Edwards, who hauled in 4 rebounds. "We had a good (week) of practice and we prepared on the zone they play so it was easy for us to get buckets."
Sophomore guard Collin Uveges led the Storm with 11 points off the bench while Anthony Lynch managed 10 points. Julian Lynch and Damien Young added 9 each.
But a rough start for South Elgin saw just 4 shots go down along with 6 turnovers in the first quarter, which helped erase an 11-10 lead it held with 3:25 left. The Storm finished the half on a 38 percent clip and the Mustangs led 47-22 at intermission.
"In the beginning we couldn't get good looks which is what you expect against this team," said Storm coach Matt Petersen, whose team also turned it over 20 times leading to 19 points. "You have to work more offense than just a quick bad shot and that's not going to help you score."