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South Elgin downs Burlington Central for Strombom crown

South Elgin's ability to counterpunch in a championship slugfest denied the Burlington Central boys basketball team its hopes for a third straight title in the 55th edition of Sycamore's Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament.

South Elgin hit free throws and rebounded Central's late misses to secure a 64-56 victory Saturday making the Storm the 16th school to capture the annual Sycamore event which dates back to its 1963 inception as the King Corn Tournament.

The Rockets (3-1) rallied for a 44-all tie entering the fourth quarter and pulled to within one (51-50) when South Elgin's Drake Montgomery initially fed Vince Miszkiewicz for a second consecutive resounding dunk and then added a 3-pointer to put the Storm (4-0) up 58-50 with 1:22 remaining.

Despite the best efforts of Zach Schutta - who has made the Sycamore tourney his personal showcase - and his Central teammates, a variety of shots simply failed.

The Storm triumvirate of Miszkiewicz (19 points), Jace Warrick (16 with four 3-pointers), and Montgomery (13) - who each earned all-tournament acclaim - proved to be the 1-2-3 combination that denied Central.

"(Central) was figuratively throwing punches and landing them, but we'd land them back," Storm coach Brett Johnson maintained. "We made some big shots and a lot of guys stepped up in big roles against a great team that put us under some obscene pressure."

Central began with a 4-0 lead only to have South Elgin go on a 13-0 run. Then came an 8-0 Rocket counter attack leading to a 19-17 Storm lead after one quarter. South Elgin closed the second with a 7-1 spurt for a 33-25 halftime lead, but Schutta tallied 8 of his game-high 23 and Patrick Mayfield added 6 of his 17 during the third quarter to pull the Rockets even to start the last quarter.

"The tough defense we needed against Sycamore carried over into this game," Johnson insisted. "And what no one can see looking at the box score, Noah (Rohr) struggled against Sycamore and had no field goals, he had only two today, but those were four huge points. They came when Central rallied."

"We knew they were hungry for a third title," Miszkiewicz noted. "But we really wanted it more in every facet of the game. In a championship game you can expect a lot of runs."

South Elgin helped its cause with a perfect 13-for-13 showing at the foul line. Montgomery had a trio of 3-pointers and 7 assists, the majority going to Miszkiewicz.

"I try to pride myself on being an all-around player, maybe a mini-LeBron, so yes those assists matter," Montgomery said. "Especially if they lead to some of (Vince's) great dunks."

While Warrick considered his 3-point prowess as the payoff to hard work and extra gym time, it was his and David Binion's defensive efforts that drew compliments from Johnson.

"(Schutta) is simply a phenomenal player. David and Jace guarded him tough and he still scored a ton," Johnson said.

"No question he's a very special kid, on and off the court," Central coach Brett Porto said, as if running out of adjectives. "He's versatile on offense and defense, but still willing to learn. Tonight we struggled around the rim, especially early, part of it may have been their length, but we just have to finish stronger."

From his perspective, Schutta accepted being constantly shadowed more so than the outcome.

"Not winning this tourney does feel like something is missing, so it hurts a little. Then again, South Elgin is a real good team and should show it in the postseason," Schutta said. "Being guarded constantly, I simply have to deal with it or better yet, use it to my advantage."

Historically, Central has won the Sycamore tourney four times total, including 1995 and 1997. The Spartans were the first to win back-to-back (1965-66) followed by three straight for DeKalb, six consecutive for John McDougal-coached West Aurora, and two in a row for DeKalb in 1987-88.

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