Lastshot
For three years they've shown flashes of brilliance that evoke memories of days gone by for Elgin High's boys basketball program.
For three years they've formed one of the most talented lineups in the area and contributed to one of the most explosive offenses around.
Michael Smart | Staff Photographer
Yet in three years, Elgin's nucleus -- made up by seniors Armani Williams, Jeremy Granger, D'Angelo Stewart and Kenny Williams -- has been unable to attain a signature achievement.
Sure, the four standouts are in the midst of back-to-back winning seasons and own a 46-37 record since they began contributing as a group as sophomores.
But when it comes to championships, these Maroons haven't won so much as a Thanksgiving or Christmas tournament title, let alone an Upstate Eight Conference, regional or sectional crown.
With Elgin set to begin play in the Larkin Class 4A Regional on Monday, the four standouts are nearing the end of turbulent high school careers that have been marked by impressive highs, disappointing lows and largely unfulfilled expectations.
The coming days represent the foursome's last chance to restore some of the prestige to Elgin's storied program, which hasn't seen a regional-title winner in six years, marking the school's longest stretch without a postseason championship since the Maroons failed to secure a district or regional title from 1935-43.
"We need to put the pieces of the puzzle together," Armani Williams said. "We know we can accomplish way more than what we've done."
Added Elgin coach Mike Sitter: "So far, those four guys have had all the headlines and recognition in the newspapers, but they really haven't won anything yet. We've talked about the fact that we haven't really reached a lot of our team goals as a group, so we'll see if that happens."
Unquestionable talent -- Individual accomplishments haven't been hard to come by for the four seasoned veterans, with Armani Williams and Granger reaching particularly impressive heights.
Together the duo combines to form one of the best guard tandems in the Chicago area, with Armani Williams providing a lethal outside shooting threat and Granger serving as Elgin's leader on both offense and defense as the team's point guard. Both are receiving attention from Division-I college programs, and both plan on playing on some level next season.
Armani Williams is No. 2 on Elgin's all-time list of scoring leaders with 1,645 points, underscoring his place as one of the program's most prolific scorers. His 316 3-pointers also make him the school's all-time leader in that category and rank him eighth in state history for most career treys made, according to IHSA.org.
Meanwhile, Granger recently became the 16th member of Elgin's 1,000-point club. Not only is he a threat to penetrate and score, but he is also the Maroons' best defender and second-leading rebounder, making him one of the UEC's most well-rounded point guards.
Stewart and Kenny Williams have also earned the respect of league coaches as three-year starters for the Maroons. Stewart is consistently lauded for having some of the best post moves around while Kenny Williams -- who is believed to be the school's all-time leading rusher -- puts his football skills to good use as a bruising power forward on the basketball court. He missed Friday's final home game for disciplinary reasons and is expected to miss Monday's regional opener.
While those varying talents and accomplishments are nice, all four players said there are bigger goals to chase down in the postseason.
"What I really want to accomplish is for us to win a regional and sectional and all that," Granger said. "Individual goals don't really matter to me if you haven't done anything as a team."
Careers marked by ups and downs -- In many ways, Elgin's past few seasons have provided a roller coaster of emotions for the team's players, coaches and fans.
This year's senior class first made headlines on the hardwood when Armani Williams -- the only player of the four to spend four years with the varsity squad -- scored 25 points as a freshman in his varsity debut on Dec. 3, 2004.
The next year Granger, Stewart and Kenny Williams joined Armani Williams on the varsity team, and the then-sophomore sensations helped send shock waves through the area when Elgin went to Larkin and stunned Dayvon Ellis and Carliss Henderson's highly touted Royals 66-60 on Jan. 31, 2006. Granger, Stewart and Armani Williams all said they still count that victory as the favorite moment of their careers.
As juniors, the foursome helped the Maroons go 17-12 and end the program's streak of five straight losing seasons. But Armani Williams' left knee injury late in the season threw a wrench in Elgin's postseason plans as its campaign came to an end with a heartbreaking overtime loss to St. Charles East in a regional title game.
The Maroons were dealt their toughest challenge when former coach Rob Brault was fired six days before the start of this season following his arrest for driving under the influence near Maroon Drive in the middle of an afternoon last November.
Despite the distraction, Elgin started the campaign 5-1 under Sitter and appeared poised to make a run at the program's first 20-win season in seven years. However, a return to bad habits that proved detrimental in the past, combined with an elbow injury to Granger, sent the Maroons into a tailspin as they lost six of seven games to slip below the .500 mark at the end of December.
True to its resilient form, Elgin bounced back and has gone 10-2 since Christmas. A 15-point win against Waubonsie Valley on Feb. 15 proved just what the Maroons are capable of when they're at their best, and they appear to be the team to beat going into this week's regional.
"We've seen everything through the good and bad, and we know what we need to work on and what we need to do to make our team have success," Armani Williams said.
Added Stewart: "Beating Waubonsie was real good, but we don't want that to be the highlight of our season. We know it's now or never, because when the postseason goes on it's win or go home."
One last chance -- With the postseason set to begin, the Maroons can't afford one of the poor performances or late-game meltdowns that have plagued them from time to time in the past.
Simply put, Elgin's four seniors know this is their last chance to avoid being labeled underachievers for failing to meet the lofty expectations their talent and experience promised.
"We're pretty fired up," Kenny Williams said. "We know what we have in front of us and we know there is only so much time, so we need to leave it all out there."
Given all they've been through the past few years, it's hard for Sitter, his staff and any follower of the program to wish Elgin's four senior leaders anything but an opportunity to hoist a postseason plaque in the coming days and weeks.
Now it's up to those players to make their aspirations become reality.
"They're all good kids off the court," Sitter said. "They're not trouble to coach, they're not a handful in the hallways and I get good reports from teachers. So you want to see those kids rewarded.
"I think a lot of them have never had as much fun playing basketball as they have this year. They've really bonded as a team, and I think that's really starting to show on the court."
