East Aurora knocks off South Elgin
The East Aurora boys basketball team entered the new year fresh off a respectable showing at its own holiday tournament where the Tomcats were able to pick up there first 2 wins of the season after an 0-9 start.
hey built on that success Friday night as they returned to action with an impressive 55-50 win on the road at South Elgin in an Upstate Eight Valley Division contest.
East Aurora (3-11, 1-2) led 32-16 at the half, but South Elgin trimmed it to 3 points in the fourth quarter before the Tomcats regrouped and hung on for the win.
"That first half was probably our best half of basketball this year," East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said. "We did a good job of being aggressive on defense and jumping into the passing lanes to create some turnovers. That was able to ignite our transition game. We kind of relaxed a little bit in that second half. We are still a team learning how to close out and win games. But I thought the kids did an excellent job of keeping their composure and taking care of the basketball towards the end of the game."
Traevon Brown, who according to Jeffries had been suffering through a sophomore jinx early on in the season after a stellar freshman campaign, continued to get on track. He had a team-high 15 points, including 10 in the second half.
"He's our leader even though he is only a sophomore," Jeffries said. "He can will us to a win. We are really hoping he can continue to get it together in the second half of the season. I think sometimes he is a little too unselfish with the ball and wants to make the pass when the shot is there. We need him shooting more like he was doing in the second half tonight. He made some big shots for us and did a real good job of running the offense."
After the Storm pulled to within 45-42 on a 3-pointer from Noah Rohr with 5;21 left in the game, Brown answered back with a jumper on the other end. He had a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter when the rest of the team was struggling and knocked down 2 free throws in the final seconds to help seal the win.
"I have been trying to step up as a leader," Brown said. "I had to take command when I needed to tonight and then get my teammates back involved because we want to win as a team. Early in the season we were struggling and trying find ourselves as a team. But we have been practicing a lot harder and stepping up in the games with more determination."
Davonta Faulkner added 12 points for the Tomcats.
The Storm (7-5, 1-2) were coming off their own impressive second place finish at the DeKalb tournament, but looked flat after an 8-day layoff, especially in the first half. Collin Uveges (16 points) and Logan Atkins (13 points) tried to lead a second-half comeback, but it came up short.
"We just didn't come ready to play tonight," South Elgin coach Brett Johnson said. "Give credit to East Aurora. They are a team hungry for wins and took advantage. They played hard and aggressive and we got what we deserved. I like the way we fought back in that second half. But you can't spot a team 16 points and expect to come back and win very often."