Kelleher, South Elgin handle Burlington Central

Sometimes it's pick your poison when it comes to defending the South Elgin girls basketball team. The Storm's versatility was clearly showcased in a pair of wins this weekend.

On Friday South Elgin used a barrage of 3-pointers to rack up 80 points in a win over West Chicago. On Saturday they had just two 3-pointers, but instead used the inside game of Mackie Kelleher to knock off Burlington Central 52-33 in nonconference action. The Storm (13-6) have now won 3 in a row and 4 out of their last 5.

Kelleher scored a game-high 24 points.

"You can't always rely living and dying by the 3-pointer," South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack said. "Today we knew we had a good matchup inside and made a concerted effort to push it into the post to Mackie. She's our leader and heart and soul. She wants the ball and knows what to do with it when she gets it. She set the tone for us right from the start."

Kelleher, who surpassed the 1,000 point career scoring mark in a game earlier this week, scored 19 points in the first half on 8 baskets in the post and 3 free throws as the Storm built a 32-22 lead.

"It was a game where I was able to get good position inside," Kelleher said. "They weren't fronting me or doubling on me, so I was able to get down low and score."

South Elgin also played stingy defense, especially Emmy McIntosh who had the dubious task of guarding Central's standout freshman Kathryn Schmidt.

Schmidt averages 18 points a game, but was held to just 13 by McIntosh, who was giving up 8 inches to the 6-foot Schmidt.

'We had a good scouting report on her," McIntosh said. "My job was to tag her and deny her from getting the ball as much as possible. It was a challenge, but that's what I like."

After Kennedy Wells went down with an injury early in the season McIntosh took over as the designated team defensive specialist and is often assigned to shutting down the other team's top scoring threat.

"You won't see a better defensive effort that what Emmy did today," Mandernack said. "She has really done a great job stepping into that role."

The Rockets (11-10) were not able to mount a serious threat in the second half getting no closer than 9 points.

"We had scouted (Kelleher) and knew we had to try and stop her," Central coach Mark Smith said. "She's a really good player who can get physical inside. I was just disappointed that we kept letting her get position. We need to do a better job with that against a player like her. Hopefully, we can step back and learn from this and use it when we face someone like her again in the future.'

Grace Franks added 9 points for the Storm. Alexis Roberts had a 3-pointer in the second that stymied any comeback attempt by the Rockets.