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South Elgin slows down Glenbard East on Senior Night

South Elgin's seniors put on a defensive clinic on Senior Night.

The Storm held Glenbard East to five fourth-quarter points while pulling away for a 59-41 Upstate Eight Conference win in South Elgin.

The Storm led just 40-36 after three quarters, but a Trace Ashby 3-pointer to open the fourth got South Elgin rolling and the Storm continued to pull away thereafter.

"On four possessions in a row we came down and took quick shots," said South Elgin coach Brett Johnson. "I called that timeout and said, 'Guys, just move the ball and be patient.' Ashby hit a 3 and that got us going. That's all they have to do is just be patient on offense and understand that eventually the defense will break down and you'll get the shot that you want. And that's what we did for four or five possessions in a row, and that's what helped us extend the lead and kind of put a clamp on it."

The Storm's senior-laden lineup didn't want to go out with a loss.

"Last year when I was a junior we didn't get the win on Senior Night," said Drake Montgomery. "This year I didn't want that to happen to me."

Montgomery's 20 points led the way for South Elgin (19-6, 12-2). Vincent Miszkiewicz had 12 points, 18 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Storm but it was the defense that propelled the Storm to the win.

"We were preaching that all week that you've got to play defense, and it showed today," Miszkiewicz said. "We allowed 41 against a very good Glenbard East team."

"That's our best defensive performance of the year to lock down defensively when offensively we really struggled," Johnson said.

Daron Hall (12 points) and Alijah Nelson (10) led the way for Glenbard East (11-15, 7-8), but the Rams couldn't get anything going inside with Miszkiewicz patrolling the paint.

"(Miszkiewicz) is very active defensively," said Glenbard East coach Scott Miller. "He makes things very tough inside. So I give him a lot of credit, he's really good.

"I thought we did a nice job, we cut it to four in the fourth quarter and we just couldn't get that stop or the bucket when we needed it."

Another senior, Jace Warrick, added 8 points for South Elgin, which opened up a double-digit lead in the third quarter only to watch the Rams come back and cut it to four twice. Freshman Lane McVicar added 7 points off the bench for South Elgin.

Jeremy Johnson and Deon Cook scored 7 points apiece for Glenbard East.

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