Hot shooting lifts South Elgin over Bartlett
It took over 7 minutes for the South Elgin boys basketball team to make its first basket on Friday night. However, it wasn't long after that it was raining 3s for the Storm.
What started out as sprinkle with the first coming in the closing seconds of the first quarter followed by 4 more in the second turned into an outright downpour with 7 in the third quarter and then 1 more for good measure in the fourth quarter. A total of 13 three-pointers helped the Storm overcome an early 16-5 deficit to surge past host Bartlett for a 64-44 Upstate Eight Conference win.
"Slow starts seem to be our M.O. this year," South Elgin coach Brett Johnson said. "We've had to come from behind in a lot of games. So, we told the kids not to worry because we've been here before. We never feel like we are out of a game, so we never get down. I give our kids credit for being able to turn it around and understanding the magnitude of this game."
Jace Warrick led the 3-point barrage for the Storm (10-2, 6-1) with 5 and he finished with a game-high 17 points. He knocked down the Storm's first 3-pointer at the close of the first quarter. He then had three 3-pointers during South Elgin's 27-point outburst in the third quarter as the Storm pulled out to a 51-39 lead. Warrick's 3-pointer with 5:10 left in the third was the bucket that put the Storm ahead for good 30-28 after the lead had exchanged hands 6 times late in the second quarter and early in the third.
"When you get zoned like we did tonight you are going to get some good looks," Warrick said. "You just have to be patient and keep working the ball around to get those open shots, Then you need to hit them and we did. It's always fun to play against Bartlett. It was great to see a big crowd come out to support us on the road."
Alex Errington also had 3 three-pointers in the third quarter deluge. He finished with 11 points.
"I think our defensive pressure started opening things up for us," Errington said. "Some other guys started hitting shots. Then I started getting some open looks, so I took them. It was a big for us to beat our rivals."
The Storm had already started to heat up before their third quarter outbreak. They closed the second quarter on a 19-7 run to grab a 24-23 halftime lead. Drew Cwik knocked down a couple of big 3-pointers while Drake Montgomery and Lane Mcvicar added one each.
"In the high school game you have to be able to hit the 3-point shot," Johnson said. "Sometimes you live and die by it. But our philosophy is to keep shooting especially against a zone. It was great to see more guys stepping up to make some shots. It makes it that much tougher to defend us."
The Hawks (3-9, 1-5) found that out.
"I thought the first half we played our game, but the second half they played their game," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "Early on defensively we contested shots and rotated on the perimeter and offensively we were patient. In the second half we didn't do that. We gave them open looks and once a team like that starts getting in a rhythm they are really tough to stop. Then on offense we stated rushing things."
Jack Stuenkel had 14 points to lead the Hawks.