Elgin handles Wauconda for consolation title at Marengo
After a heartbreaking loss to open the E.C. Nichols Holiday Tournament in Marengo that dropped its record to 1-8 the Elgin boys basketball has suddenly found the secret to winning.
The Maroons, who lost to Belvidere 62-61 in the opening round of the tournament, bounced back and won their third straight game, 55-34 over Wauconda on Friday to capture the consolation championship.
Dan Toolsie had a game-high 26 points, including six 3-pointers to lead the Maroons.
"We are a team that has been trying to find its identity," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "So to get 3 wins is big for us. The thing we did real well in all three of these games is we were able to take other teams out of their offensive sets and limit what they could do offensively. Time will tell if we can continue to build on this. It will be up to the kids if they can feed off the energy this gives us,"
The Maroons (4-8) navigated through a sloppy first quarter to take a 15-7 lead, but then put it all together during a 13-0 run in the second quarter to pull away to a 28-9 lead.
Toolsie started the run with a 3-pointer. He added another 3-pointer and a 2-point basket to spark the Maroons.
"Usually when he is in the game he's the best athlete on the floor," Sitter said. "He can score in bunches. We've been pushing him to raise his energy level and we are seeing flashes of that."
The Maroons were also fueled by 7 forced turnovers in the second quarter and 6 more in the third quarter as they extended the lead to 48-27.
"We got a lot of open shots on the offensive end off of our defense," Sitter said. "I liked the way we communicated on defense when we were pressuring the ball. It really came down to a battle of wills. We wanted to get out and run and play full court and they wanted to make it a half-court game. And we were able to win that battle."
Toolsie had a pair of 3-pointers to open the second half and later added his sixth and final 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give the Maroons their largest lead of the game 53-27.
"Any time you can get 3 wins in a row it's going to put everybody in a lot better mood," Toolsie said. "Everybody is talking and a lot more into it now. I was feeling my shot in warmups and usually when that's the case it carries over to the game."
Tre Morris added 12 points for the Maroons and also had 2 key steals in the Maroons '13-0 second quarter run.
Wauconda (4-9) finished the tournament 2-2 and was led in scoring by Matthew Nolan with 10 points.
"Their pressure gave us a lot of problems," Wauconda coach Scott Luetscwager said. "It made it difficult get into our offense. It was still good to get 2 wins here. The kids battled hard and I thought we got a lot of good things out of the tournament."