South Elgin downs St. Edward
South Elgin could just as easily have stayed down for the count after taking St. Edward's best shot in the opening minutes of Tuesday's nonconference girls basketball game. Instead after falling behind 9-0 on the road the Storm got up off the canvass, dusted themselves off, and battled their way to a 64-56 win.
Bridgette Williams had 15 points to lead South Elgin in scoring. Cara Fahey added 14. The Green Wave's Cece Rapp had a huge game despite the loss with 25 points and 18 rebounds.
The Storm (11-6) answered back in the first quarter with 9 straight points of their own to pull even. Williams and Delaney Kelleher each had a pair of baskets that helped the Storm right the ship.
"We did a great job of keeping our composure," South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack said. "We knew this was a big game for them because they want to show they can compete with the bigger schools, so we talked beforehand how we have to stay calm no matter what. I thought once we got settled in we started running our Vegas 1-3-1 defense a lot better and hit some shots to give us some momentum back."
The game was still tied 29-29 at halftime before South Elgin started to take control. The Storm went on a 6-1 run to start the third quarter to take a 35-30 lead that they never relinquished. Williams had all 3 baskets for the Storm during the run.
'We knew those first few minutes out of the break were huge," Mandernack said. "We had some success running our high-low plays. Bridgette is a tough player inside and made some big baskets for us."
The Storm went on an 8-2 run later in the third quarter to open a 45-37 advantage. MacKenzie Kelleher had a couple key baskets during the third quarter run.
"We just came together as a team," Kelleher said. "We didn't worry too much when we got down. We just gave it our best effort and turned it around."
The Storm led by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter.
"We tried to keep speeding up the game as much as we could," Mandernack said. "We didn't want to get in a half court game and just let them throw it into the post to their big girl all night. So we push push push every opportunity."
The Green Wave (12-5) continued to struggle handling the ball in their third game now without starting point guard Madelyn Spagnola, who is likely out for the season with a knee injury.
The Green Wave had 22 turnovers in the game.
"It's still a learning process for our team," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said. "Not one person is going to be able to step into her spot. Collectively everyone is going to need to do a little more. We had a couple too many turnovers tonight. But we are going to keep working at it."