Boys basketball: Elijah Endress, Bureau Valley shoot down Princeton in last County Christmas Classic

MANLIUS – Elijah Endress’ hustle and defense got him back in the Bureau Valley starting lineup.

It was his offense that sparked the Storm to a 62-56 win over rival Princeton in the fifth annual County Christmas Classic at the Storm Cellar Thursday night.

Endress knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter and another to start the second quarter, accounting for all his night’s scoring to stake the Storm to a 23-16 lead.

While the Tigers managed to take the lead to start the fourth quarter, the Storm overcame their guests to claim the victory in Three Rivers East play.

“It feels really good, especially since it’s the last time going against them in the Christmas Classic. It was a really good win, played hard and good defense,” Endress said.

Thursday’s game marked the end of the County Christmas Classic between the Tigers and Storm. It was the Storm’s first victory in the five-game series.

Princeton does not plan on playing Bureau Valley in any sport following the Storm’s departure from the Three Rivers Conference at the end of the school year. The Tigers have an eye on joining a new Christmas tournament next year.

Storm coach Jason Marquis said the Dec. 28 date will remain open on the Storm’s calendar for a future County Christmas Classic.

Endress, who was averaging 5.9 ppg on the year, came out shooting, well, like his uncle Phil Endress, an all-stater for the Storm’s state squads of the early 2000s, hitting his first four 3-point shots of the game.

“I was really feeling it when I hit that first shot in the corner. After that, I couldn’t miss, so I kept on shooting,” Endress said. “I was slacking a little bit at the beginning of the season. My defense wasn’t too good, but I picked it up. Once I do good defense, I shoot the ball a lot better and easier.”

Storm coach Jason Marquis said Endress’ offensive game has indeed spawned from his defense.

“I think Elijah got his season going by diving on the floor for loose balls, being greedy on the defensive glass, stepping in to take a charge,” he said. “All of a sudden we see a kid make a lot of shots in practice and practically see him make zero shots in the first 10 games and then the lid came off.

“I’m happy for Elijah and I’ll be happier when he gets his hair cut.”

The Storm hit seven 3-pointers on the way to a 37-30 halftime lead.

Princeton coach Jason Smith said the Tigers really never recovered from Endress’ and the Storm’s early hot shooting.

“They came out and shot really well in the first quarter and first half and I thought that was the difference in the game. It took us awhile to absorb that,” he said. “We’re a varsity group and we’re losing guys, don’t know who we’re guarding. And that’s inexcusable.

“When you see a kid shoot one, he makes three more and you think you’d want to stop him. Maybe it’s my fault for not matching them up better, but I think all in all, we’ve got to be better with basketball awareness than we were tonight and play with a sense of urgency and not be so complacent.”

Three baskets by junior post Landon Hulsing stretched the Storm’s lead to 45-36 midway through the third quarter, its biggest of the night.

The Tigers had a little roar left in them, scoring the last nine points of the third quarter, including a 3-pointer by big man Noah LaPorte and two inside baskets by Liam Swearingen to tie the game at 45 at quarter’s end.

Jordan Reinhardt converted a steal and layup to cap a 11-0 Tiger run to start the fourth quarter to take a 47-45 lead and scored again for a 49-47 edge.

Moon hooped twice for the Storm and Korte Lawson answered for the Tigers with a step-up jumper for a 51-51 tie.

The Storm outscored the Tigers 11-5 down the stretch to take the win. Hulsing scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half (8 in the fourth quarter) while Chhimm added 16.

“We took a timeout and got on each other about playing good defense. Even though we were tired, we still played good defense and turned them over,” Endress said. “And Justin Moon got all those rebounds.”

Moon, who had most of his six rebounds in the fourth quarter, said it’s “my turn to step up by getting rebounds and boxing out.”

Moon sees the game as a pivotal one for the Storm heading into the new year.

“It’s a very transitional game I think. It’s very shifty in the way we’ve been playing,” he said. “We took a step up tonight. It was very nice to see the communication and defense and offense. It flowed together. When we were down, we kept our spirits up and played hard.”

LaPorte led the Tigers (7-8) with 18 points and Reinhardt added 15.

Notes: The Tigers now stand 14-8 at the Storm Cellar and 23-19 in the all-time series dating back to the 1995-96 season, Bureau Valley’s first. ... The F/S games were both lopsided affairs with Princeton winning the sophomore game 60-30 and BV the freshmen game 64-24. Jackson Mason and Gavin Lanham each had 19 points for the PHS sophs.