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'Clutch' Hardy leads St. Charles East over Elgin

By now, it should come as no surprise as to who will get the ball with the game on the line for the St. Charles East boys basketball team this season.

And at this point, how can you not expect Justin Hardy to miss?

"He's a heck of a player and I'm glad he's on our side," Saints coach Patrick Woods said. "I'm glad I've got him for one more year."

And for another Saints win. Hardy, who hit a 3-point buzzer-beater over St. Charles North 2 weeks ago, was heroic again in Upstate Eight River action, this time as East grabbed a 57-53 overtime victory over Elgin at Chesbrough Field House Friday.

The junior forward tied the game at 49 on a 3 from the top of the key with 36 seconds left, led OT with another 3 and then flicked a short pass to Zach Robinson in the left corner, whose go-ahead 3 gave East (5-2, 1-1) all it needed with 1:20 left in overtime.

Hardy finished with 22 points to go with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. He connected on 4 of 6 threes, which were also the last 4 shots he drained, as the Saints' struggling 3-point shot came alive at just the right time.

"If there's a situation where we need a shot I'll be the guy to take it," Hardy said. "I think teams should worry about us at the end of games but I feel we should get to the point where we aren't playing at the buzzer. We should be winning games in the second and third quarters."

Which seems to be the Saints' kryptonite so far this season. East shot 12-for-28 in the first half, which included a 3-for-13 clip from the perimeter. Though East warmed up in the second half shooting 5-for-11 from deep, a 9-point fourth quarter and a spirited effort by the Maroons, who trailed by 5 after three quarters but struggled shooting 35.4 percent, put the game in doubt.

"We're a team where we don't hit shots early or get stuff going early, it seems to be a struggle the whole game," Woods said. "And when you let a team like this who's got talent on it hang around, it's going to be a dogfight the whole way and that's exactly what it was."

Courtese Cooper struggled going 3-for-12 from the field for 7 points to go with 15 rebounds, but Trevon Morris off the bench was the Maroons' spark with a team-high 11 points. Morris helped Elgin (5-2, 1-1) to a 10-4 run to start the fourth which was capped by a Ray Panthier steal and Reggie Cole's layup for a 45-44 Maroon lead with 3:06 remaining. Morris ' jumper gave Elgin a slim 1-point lead with 1:45 and 2 free throws put the Maroons up 3 with 55.8 seconds left. After Hardy knotted the game up, Elgin held for the last shot but Titus Ahrens' look from the right wing clanked as time expired.

"It comes down to one possession here or there," Maroons coach Mike Sitter said. "It was a game where we gave their best shooter an open look, one in regulation and (one) in overtime and we knew better than that. We knew exactly what was coming and we practice it all week and we didn't play it right. Sometimes it comes down to one stop."

The teams traded 3s in OT as Tim Wolf (10 points) pushed Elgin ahead 52-49 with 2:41 left. Hardy answered 15 seconds later and on the next Saints' possession Robinson, who missed his two previous shots from deep, drained a 3 and then followed with 2 free throws to finish off Elgin with 13 points and 3 rebounds.

"I felt like we were going to win the game at that point," Robinson said of his overtime shot. "We know as a team we can find a way to win against anybody."

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