Rohr, South Elgin top Guilford to move to 5-0

The red hot start to the season for the South Elgin boys basketball team continued on Saturday.

Fresh off capturing the title at the Sycamore Thanksgiving Tournament last weekend the Storm rolled to a 73-55 nonconference win over Rockford Guilford in their home opener to improve to 5-0.

Senior Noah Rohr led South Elgin with a career-best 24 points.

"This is what we pictured," South Elgin coach Brett Johnson said. "We feel we are capable of winning a lot of games this year. I am really pleased with the start and happy with the way we are playing on both ends of the court. We are playing hard, aggressive, and fast like we want to. We've been able to create some turnovers and push the ball up the floor."

The defense played a key role for the Storm on Saturday. They forced 31 turnovers with 21 of those coming in the first half as they built a 40-20 lead by halftime.

"We were able to apply a lot of pressure with our soft 1-2-2 press," Johnson said. "The key was being aggressive and denying passes. David Binion and Drake Montgomery did a real good job at the point of attack."

Montgomery had 4 steals and Binion had 3.

Rohr provided an offensive spark for the Storm right out of the gate. He scored 10 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.

"I was thrilled with what Noah did today," Johnson said. "He can shoot the ball, but he's struggled the last couple games. We just told him to keep shooting because eventually they are going to start falling again. He works really hard and when he hit that first 3-point shot on our first possession I felt really good for him. It took some pressure off and he got on a roll after that."

Rohr shot 10 of 15 (67 percent) from the field. He was 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

"It felt good seeing that first one go down," Rohr said. "My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball, They were scoring, too, and that opens up a lot of shots for everyone. So I really have to give the credit to them. I feel we have a good team chemistry and we are meshing right now."

Montgomery added 14 points for the Storm and Jace Warrick finished with 13 points.

"We have several different guys who can score," Johnson said. "A different one might step up and have big game each night. Tonight it was Noah. The next night it might be Drake, or David, or Jace. It's really nice to have that balance."