South Elgin stops Bartlett, improves to 8-1 in UEC
South Elgin must have felt like a heavyweight boxer.
The Storm absorbed every punch Bartlett dished out, got off the mat and eventually won the bout.
Spearheaded by 22 points from Elias Cole Williams which included a resounding dunk to end the game, the host Storm edged Bartlett 66-61 in Upstate Eight Conference action in South Elgin Friday night.
"We have lost games like this," said South Elgin coach Phil Church. "Bartlett kept coming, We showed a lot of growth and it is a testament to these kids."
Cole Williams, who was 10-of-15 from the floor, added 8 rebounds with 3 assists for the Storm (11-8, 8-1).
"The dunk at the end was awesome, " said Cole-Williams. "I loved it. This was a great win. We knew we couldn't relax. We had to push hard."
Church is enjoying the progress of Cole-Williams.
"Eli is starting to get some schools to notice him," said the Storm coach. "He is going to garner more defensive attention. He had a great game."
Jake Tiaokhiao added 17 points with a pair of 3-pointers and Victor Sison contributed 15 with 2 treys.
Connecting on 5-of-8 from 3-point range, the Storm led 33-17 with 3:36 left in the first half.
Bartlett (13-6, 6-3) kept its poise and ended the half on a 14-5 run to slice South Elgin's lead to 38-31 at intermission. Ethan Hedeen had 5 points including a 3, Martin McCarthy scored 4 points and Kelton McEwen buried a 3 during the Hawks' comeback.
Bartlett methodically whittled away at South Elgin's lead and eventually tied the game at 59 on a layup from Keegan Kunzer with 1:10 left. Bartlett couldn't get any closer.
Hedeen, in his first start, scored 17 points with four 3-pointers.
"Ethan was phenemonal in his first start," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "He played great."
Playing without leading scorer Nathan Scearce, Kunzer scored 12 and McEwen added 10.
"We didn't defend early and we were impatient," said Wolfsmith. "We didn't get enough stops at the end. They knocked down free throws and we didn't (9-of-18)."