South Elgin shakes off slow start, tops Elgin

South Elgin defeated Elgin 51-37 at Chesbrough Field House Friday night in a basketball game pairing Upstate Eight Conference rivals that didn't start out the way either team had hoped it would.

However, in the end, it may have ended in a way that gave each coach something to build upon.

South Elgin coach Brett Johnson gave credit to the Maroons (2-6, 0-4) for battling the entire 32 minutes of the game and also thought that the seniors on the team came away with an unexpected benefit.

"We knew coming in that Elgin was going to zone us and it was going to be tough," Johnson said. "Hess (Elgin coach David) does a great job preparing his team for the next team and he knew that we have some shooters. We had that nice run in the second quarter by some of our bench players, but we have a lot of work to do. Elgin did a great job tonight of battling us and making us play, and I think our seniors found out a little about themselves tonight. Hopefully, we can take advantage of that at some point."

South Elgin (7-1, 4-0) led 7-2 after the first quarter as both teams struggled to maintain possessions and capitalize on open shots. Maroons senior Trey Yarber brought the host team back to take an 11-7 lead to start the second quarter, canning a 3-pointer and earning another 4 points when he converted steals into layups.

But Yarber's efforts weren't enough to hold off the Storm, as Vincent Miszkiewicz and fellow senior Drake Montgomery scored 13 points between them to take the lead back 20-11 and thwart the early comeback.

Miszkiewicz and Montgomery saw an opportunity to provide some senior leadership for their team to help pull them through a tough spot in the game.

"We had a slow start tonight and we didn't come out focused," Miszkiewicz said. "Our shots weren't falling, so we (Montgomery) had to step it up and take over. We're the seniors and the team captains, so we had to do whatever it takes to win."

The Maroons trailed 47-24 midway through the fourth quarter, but went on a 13-0 run to bring life back into a gymnasium that had been quiet since the halftime show had ended. The rally wasn't enough to turn the game into a win, but Hess saw the effort that he is hoping to instill in his team as he builds the new program.

"We talked before the game about competing and what that looks like for 32 minutes," Hess said. "I was proud of the effort … that's what you're looking for. That's the foundation, and then the next step is to play efficient, play smart, and play together. We're playing harder, but that's the tough thing about basketball. You have to play hard on defense, but then you have to play controlled on offense. We're looking for growth there. I feel fortunate to work for some great coaches, and the one thing we always talk about here is the culture comes first day in and day out. Preparation is so important."