Storm looking for continued success

Chaz Taft

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South Elgin hopes to overcome a lack of experience with an abundance of talent this season.

The Storm welcomes back only three players who helped the program tie for third place in the Upstate Eight Conference and set a school record for wins with a 19-9 finish last year.

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Chaz Taft

That leaves coach Chaz Taft with 11 players on this year's team who have no varsity experience. Taft says that lack of seasoning is his biggest concern, but he's still optimistic his team can continue to raise the bar.

"We want to continue what we started last year and build on it," Taft said. "I'm looking forward to it and it's going to be a fun group to coach. It's a good, young group right now."

Senior Tommy Childs (5-9, G) is South Elgin's top returner and was one of only four players on the team to play in every game last year. His 8.7 points per game ranked second on the team.

Seniors Sheldon Chaney (6-1, G/F) and Sam Jordt (6-4, G/F) also made significant contributions last year, and Taft will look to his trio of seniors to lead the charge.

"We'll need a lot of senior leadership out of them," Taft said. "Now it's their turn to kind of step up like how those seniors stepped up last year."

The Storm will get plenty of reinforcements from a junior class that enjoyed some success at the sophomore level a year ago.

Juniors Sam Sutter (6-0, G), Dillon Gardner (6-0, G) and Matt Hattendorf (6-4, F) are three newcomers expected to make significant contributions.

The Storm will also look to some younger players this season, notably sophomore Matt Downing (6-6, C).

"The experience thing is key for this group," Taft said. "Being first-time varsity players, they have to be able to get through it when they hit that wall as varsity players and it becomes kind of a drag. It's tough for a first-time varsity player to go through, and that's my biggest concern.

"I'll be honest with you, (the underclassmen) are talented. But they're just not experienced at the varsity level."

This marks the fourth varsity season for South Elgin's program. The Storm, which will try to defend its Fenton Thanksgiving Tournament title this week, has increased its win total every year.