Out with a broken ankle, Zoie Lewis could only watch. But South Elgin is 9-3 since she returned. ‘We took a turn.’

During the first half of the season, South Elgin’s Zoie Lewis felt helpless at times.

Saddled with a broken ankle that she suffered in the preseason, all the senior forward could do was watch and try to encourage her teammates.

“I haven’t had an injury like that in forever,” Lewis said. “It was bad all around, but we got through it as a team. I had the support of their families and them as well.

“It all came together in the end.”

Things continued to come together Tuesday night for Lewis, who scored 11 points for the host Storm in a 62-32 win over Streamwood in a Class 3A South Elgin Regional semifinal.

South Elgin (15-16), which improved to 9-3 since Lewis returned to the fold, advanced to play Larkin at 7 p.m. Thursday for the regional title. The Royals beat Elgin 77-49.

Caitlyn Tolentino scored 16 points for the Storm. Raina Yang added 14 and Chloe Kmiec had 13. Jamia Gatlin led Streamwood (3-29) with 14 points. Brianna Coffey had 13.

Lewis also contributed three rebounds and three steals as South Elgin tries make another run like last season, when the Storm reached the sectional championship game.

“It feels good to finally be back, gaining my confidence back, just doing what I can do to help us win,” Lewis said. “Obviously, we wish we would have peaked a lot sooner.

“We took a turn with me coming back. We’re definitely peaking now.”

On a team bereft of size, Lewis qualifies as a post player despite being only 5-foot-9. The position isn’t foreign to her, however. She filled a similar role last season.

“Growing up I was the tallest kid, so I learned how to be a center,” Lewis said. “Going into middle school and freshman year, I stopped growing, so I was the size of a guard.

“I had to learn both. I like being able to play both.”

Likewise, South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack is happy Lewis can play both.

“She can jump out of the sky,” Mandernack said. “She has a little bit of height. We have absolutely no height, just like last year. She’s so athletic. She’s so smart.

“She may not be our best player, but she’s our most important because she’s our muscle.”

After a sluggish start, the Storm went on a 19-3 run in the first half Tuesday to open a 28-9 lead. Lewis had two baskets in that span, with Raina Yang adding seven and Kmiec and Ariana Lopez each hitting 3-pointers.

“We said eight quarters, starting with the first quarter, we have to be all in,” Mandernack said. “We looked (Monday) at some of the scores, and there were some upsets.

“It was a team effort. Our press was real good in the beginning. That kind of got us going.”

Meanwhile, the hard work to get back is paying off for Lewis, but she can’t help but look back at the lean times when she was in street clothes and how the team stayed together.

“I had to be a leader off the court dealing with the injury,” Lewis said. “I tried to get them through it mentally.

“I know they were going through it playing without me because, to be honest, they haven’t played without me since I came in sophomore year.”

In that manner, Mandernack is pleased with the how the team persevered to get to this point.

“We said better days are coming,” Mandernack said. “We’re going to peak at the end. We just said ‘be coachable,’ and they were. ‘Be good to each other,’ and they were.

“Now, we have a shot Thursday to be one of the top 24 teams in the state.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.