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Big second half lifts Elgin past King

It's going to be an interesting season for the Elgin boys basketball team if the Maroons can consistently adjust on the fly like they did in Monday's 41-29 season-opening victory over Chicago King.

Elgin coach Mike Sitter told his players at halftime that the West Chicago Thanksgiving Tournament opener wouldn't have been tied 18-18 had they not settled for so many 3-pointers instead of driving the lane against King's sagging man-to-man defense.

The Maroons made 3 of 15 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in the first two quarters. They attempted only 4 more 3-pointers the rest of the game (and made 2).

Courtese Cooper took Sitter's words to heart. The 6-foot-8 senior scored 9 of his game-high 14 points in the third quarter to spark a 12-2 run that turned Elgin's 23-21 lead into a 35-23 cushion.

"Coach told us we were playing scared in the first half. He told us we weren't being aggressive, things like that," Cooper said. "So I wanted to do better, take charge and be the captain I'm supposed to be."

In addition to his 14 points, Cooper contributed 9 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 3 assists. During the game-changing surge, he hustled back on defense after a turnover and blocked a shot off the backboard by King sophomore guard Elrode Amari. That ignited a fast break the other way that culminated in a layup by Tim Wolf, who scored 6 of his 10 points in the third quarter.

"Courtese brings a lot of energy and he can dominate a game offensively and defensively," Sitter said. "He didn't score tonight like he usually does, but he dominated the game in other ways."

King started a freshman forward and only two seniors yet drew within 8 points with 6:15 left in the game after back-to-back baskets by sophomores, Laquan Mims and Amari.

However, Elgin sophomore point guard Latrell Hudson quashed the mini-comeback when he stole a long inbounds pass at midcourt and raced for an uncontested layup that restored the lead to double digits with 5:25 remaining.

Hudson (5-foot-7) also grabbed 7 rebounds, 4 in the fourth quarter.

"I played against a lot of big guys," said Hudson, a high-level AAU player. "I'm kind of used to it now."

The Maroons dominated the glass. Elgin finished with 37 rebounds to King's 17. Junior post Roy Panthier added 6 points and 3 rebounds and junior Dan Toolsie had 2 points and 6 rebounds

Amari was King's high scorer with 6 points. The Jaguars shot 13 of 44 from the field (29.5 percent) and committed 11 of their 18 turnovers in the second half.

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