Basketball pride is back on Elgin's east side.
Elgin snapped its longest postseason title drought in more than 60 years Friday, knocking off top-seeded St. Charles North 58-50 to claim the Larkin Class 4A Regional championship.
As senior Armani Williams shot a pair of free throws with four seconds left to ice the win, the familiar chant of "E-L-G-I-N" rang out from the Maroons' student cheering section, signaling the start of the celebration.
Moments later, surrounded by his teammates and grinning from ear to ear, Williams lifted Elgin's first regional title plaque since 2002 high above his head.
The victory was a long time coming for the Maroons' seniors, who have received much fanfare in recent years despite never winning a holiday tournament, conference or postseason title.
That finally changed Friday as third-seeded Elgin (19-9) overcame a spirited challenge from the North Stars to claim the 40th regional crown in program history and end the school's longest postseason championship drought since the Maroons failed to secure a regional or district title from 1935-43.
Williams led the charge, scoring a game-high 23 points. Senior Jeremy Granger added 19 points for the Maroons, who advance to play Rockton Hononegah (28-2) on Wednesday in the Jacobs Sectional semifinals.
"We worked so hard for this and we really deserve this," Williams said. "We've fought through a lot and gone through a lot of adversity, and it's just great to get this win."
Added Granger: "We finally got what we wanted and we're regional champions. We hadn't done anything the last few years and we had high expectations. To fulfill one of those expectations is big for us."
The outcome remained in doubt well into the fourth quarter as North pulled within 45-43 on Nick Neari's basket with 4:01 left in the game.
Granger quickly answered with a bucket to push Elgin's lead back up to four, and that's where the score remained while the teams alternated four straight empty possessions.
The scoreless run came to an end when Granger made the play of the game, using a burst of speed to pick off a pass from Neari near halfcourt before racing down the floor for an uncontested layup to put the Maroons ahead 49-43 with 2:25 left.
"I read it perfectly, and when he threw the pass I jumped all over it and got the easy layup," Granger said.
Added North coach Tom Poulin: "That was a big steal at the end. You practice for that situation where you can come down and really make it a ballgame. You really need to execute in that spot. That's what all those hours of practice are for, and we'll learn from it."
Elgin never trailed in the final three quarters, but never did manage to shake North (17-12) until the final minutes.
The North Stars used a 7-0 run to start the second half to trim a seven-point halftime deficit to 32-31 early in the third quarter. The Maroons responded, though, scoring eight straight points to help rebuild a 42-33 cushion going into the fourth quarter.
North charged back again in the final period, as junior Jonathan DeMoss scored six points to pace a 10-3 run that cut Elgin's lead to 45-43. But the North Stars would come no closer as the Maroons bounced back with a 10-3 run of their own to put the game away.
"I like the fact that when things weren't going our way, that's when we played our hardest," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "That's what champions do."
Although Williams and Granger shouldered the majority of the scoring load, Elgin got big contributions from a number of players as it claimed its sixth win in a row.
Despite managing only two points, senior center D'Angelo Stewart pulled down eight rebounds. Meanwhile, junior Marcus Redburg picked up the slack in the post, totaling seven points and 10 rebounds. Senior Kenny Williams added eight rebounds.
Neari led North with 14 points while fellow junior Mike Kastel tallied 11 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Tim Janeway added 11 points despite battling a nagging left ankle injury that forced him to miss Tuesday's regional semifinal win against South Elgin.
After matching a single-season school record for wins, North has plenty to look forward to with four juniors returning to its starting lineup. However, the sting of losing in a regional championship game for the second year in a row lingers for the North Stars, who were unable to duplicate their double-overtime win against Elgin in the regular season.
"Like all the games against (Elgin), it was back-and-forth," Janeway said. "We kind of lost our composure there at the end and we didn't execute the way we needed to, and it kind of spiraled from there. It's tough and it's disappointing."
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