Bench fuels Hilltoppers' win

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:18AM

Elgin Academy's bench ignited the flame Monday, and junior point guard Connor Flexman then carried the torch.

Flexman scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half to help the Hilltoppers pull away for good after the bench's second-quarter scoring spurt had kept Faith Lutheran of Crystal Lake at bay, and Elgin Academy advanced to Wednesday's semifinals of the Christian Liberty Class 1A Regional with a 56-37 victory. The Hilltoppers will play the host school, 48-46 winner in Monday night's opener over Evanston Roycemore.

"I think Connor was sort of sitting back letting the game come to him in the first half, but in the second half did a nice job of becoming more aggressive and taking it to them," Elgin Academy coach David Vogt said.

Flexman scored nine points and had five rebounds in a third quarter when the Hilltoppers turned a 30-17 halftime advantage into a 43-25 edge that was never seriously threatened again as the Hilltoppers earned a date against the second-seeded host team.

However, when the game still was in doubt, reserves Michael Grabek, Martin Diaz de Leon and Jumel Julien had a huge impact. Those three outscored the Faith Lutheran bench 15-0 in the game, including 11-0 in the first half. That 11-0 advantage included two three-pointers from Julien and one from Grabek.

"Grabek just came back from a week illness and had a good game for us and Julien's three-pointers were big," Vogt said.

Down 16-7 after a quarter, a Faith Lutheran team that had lost earlier by 33 to the Hilltoppers had clawed back within 18-15 with 3:51 left until halftime.

However, Diaz de Leon sank a turnaround 15-footer, then Julien made the first of his two three-pointers. The second followed a free throw by Faith Lutheran scoring leader Jake Larson (13 points) and gave the Hilltoppers a 26-17 lead. The Hilltoppers (8-14) closed a 12-2 run to finish the half with Flexman's 10-footer on the baseline and Tam Tunca's short shot off an in-bound pass for a 30-17 lead.

Then Flexman took over the game. He finished with 16 rebounds, three steals and two assists, in addition to his 18 points.

Aaron Thomas had 12 points for the Hilltoppers, who made 21 of 58 from the field (36 percent) to 13 of 42 (25 percent) by Faith Lutheran (4-20).

"We didn't really have the energy we needed early in the contest," Vogt said. "It took us almost a full quarter to get it going."

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