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Niles North outscores Elgin

Elgin boys basketball coach Mike Sitter is happy with his team's effort. He is concerned about the Maroons' execution.

With Niles North outscoring Elgin 29-8 in the second quarter, the Vikings cruised to an 86-44 win over the Maroons in their final game of the 3rd Annual Lake Zurich Martin Luther King Classic on Monday night.

'Our kids always play hard," said Sitter. "I never question our effort.We just have trouble with execution at both ends of the court. We are very one-dimensional with Desmond (Douglas). We don't have a true ball-handler. We let them penetrate to the basket and we allowed too many second shots."

The only lead of the game for the Maroons (5-14) was at 3-2 after a 3-pointer by Chaquille Bennett with 6:58 left in the first quarter.

Leading 15-7 after one quarter, Niles North (15-6) seized control of the game in the second quarter with a 14-0 run.

Holding a 25-10 advantage, the Vikings extended a 15-point lead to 29, 39-10 after a layup by Diondre Williams with 2:37 left before half. Williams keyed the pivotal run with 8 points, including 2 baskets from beyond the arc, and Chrishawn Cook scored 6 points on 3 baskets.

"This being our fifth game in 72 hours, I wasn't sure the intensity level we would come out with," said Vikings coach Glenn Olson. "I didn't need to worry about it. We started the game playing with great intensity. Our pressure was good and we did a great job of getting to the basket for easy shots."

The third quarter was Elgin's best scoring effort of the evening with 20 points.

Connecting on 8 of 10 shots from the field, the Maroons got 8 points from Desmond Douglas, 5 from Jakub Zajac and a 3-pointer by Bennett.

Unfortunately for the Maroons, Niles North scored 22 in the third and led 66-35 heading into the final quarter.

The Vikings' biggest lead was 75-after a basket by Michael Edmond with 3:48 left.

Williams led four Niles North players in double-digit scoring with 18 points. Cook scored 13 along and Abby George and Danilo Ranger had 10 apiece.

"I like our depth and we have a lot of kids who can score," said Olson. "We have great offensive balance."

Douglas, who made 6 of 10 shots from the field, was the lone Maroon in double figures with 14 points.

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