Warrick sparks South Elgin to comeback win over Streamwood
Playing without injured senior starting guard Drake Montgomery and trailing Streamwood by double digits late in the first half, South Elgin's basketball team needed some sort of spark.
Enter Jace Warrick.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard/forward knocked down four second-half 3-point baskets en route to a career-high 27 points while helping the Storm (5-1, 2-0) rally past host Streamwood, 71-63, in Upstate Eight Conference action Saturday night.
Warrick, who scored 17 second-half points, actually provided a huge offensive boost in the first half when he connected on a 3-pointer just inside half-court at the buzzer to keep the Storm within striking distance - down 34-26.
"That got us going," said Storm coach Brett Johnson. "We were down 8 (points) instead of 11."
South Elgin continued its momentum into the third quarter, enjoying a 16-3 spurt during the first 5-plus minutes while opening a 42-37 lead.
The early second-half run included freshman Lane McVicar's 3-point play, back-to-back driving layups from fellow freshman Drew Cwik and a pair inside buckets from senior Vincent Miszkiewicz.
"I feel like we fed off the energy we got at the end of the first half," said Warrick, who finished with five 3-pointers. "We found some open lanes and some open shots."
Warrick displayed some of his marksmanship when he buried an NBA-range 3-pointer from the wing to give the Storm a 38-37 lead with 5 minutes left in the third quarter - a lead they would never relinquish.
"We work on a lot of drills at practice with me coming off of screens and hitting the deep 3," said Warrick.
"They left him open and he made his shots - that's what he's supposed to do," Johnson said of Warrick. "He was also really good at taking care of the ball and driving the ball to the basket. I'm proud of the senior leadership from Jace."
With Montgomery sidelined by a stretched ligament in his thumb (suffered Nov. 29 vs. Larkin), Warrick helped take on some of the offensive load.
"Drake is a crucial player on our team," said Warrick. "I feel like someone had to step up - me and Vince (Miszkiewicz) really took the reins. I just had some open looks tonight and they fell."
Miszkiewicz, who battled toe-to-toe with NIU-bound Sabres senior forward Keenon Cole, added 25 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"From the opening tip, I felt like he had it and he wanted it," Johnson said of his team's 6-7 forward/center. "Keenon (Cole) is a great player and I was proud of how Vince said he wanted to guard him. He did a good enough job on him so he didn't take control. That's all you can ask of him.
"Both of those guys played above the rim."
Cole led all scorers with 30 points and 9 rebounds, while Nikola Sinik and Zach Marquez chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Sabres (2-5, 1-1).
"They just outplayed us in the third quarter," said Sabres coach Kent Payne. "They played with more intensity and made better decisions. We didn't defend in the second half and we didn't execute.
"They came here to win and we didn't answer the challenge. We've got to find guys who want to compete and defend."