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Davidson leads St. Charles North by Elgin

St. Charles North’s Nichole Davidson didn’t let a little illness slow her down.

Davidson scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds as the North Stars ran away with a 60-31 win over host Elgin in Upstate Eight Conference River Division girls basketball action on Saturday at Chesbrough Field House.

“I have a cold right now, and coach (Sean Masoncup) just told me to play my hardest,” Davidson said. “He said Michael Jordan played his best when he was sick, so I just went out there and gave it my best.”

The North Stars (6-7, 2-2) came out strong defensively forcing 11 Maroons turnovers in the first quarter to build an 18-3 lead by the end of the period. Elgin (4-5, 1-3) was held without a field goal until a Maggie Powers (7 points) basket nearly 6 minutes into the game.

Davidson, who went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the game, scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished the first half with 21 as the North Stars led 38-13 by halftime.

“She’s really had a great season,” Masoncup said. “She had a tough game on Thursday (against Grayslake Central), but she bounced back well.”

Elgin pulled to within 38-17 after buckets from Anna Eckholm and Destiny West (8 points, 6 rebounds) to open the third quarter, but the Maroons pulled no closer. The North Stars’ largest lead was 56-22 after a Lauren Neslund (6 points, 7 rebounds) basket early in the fourth.

Kyla Helsel hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 8 points, Sam Novak had 6 points and Morgan Rosencrants had 4 points and 6 rebounds for the North Stars, who shot 16-for-18 from the line.

“I thought we played really well,” Masoncup said. “They had a big win last night against Larkin, who we lost to earlier. We knew we had to be ready.”

The Maroons were coming off a 53-46 overtime win over Larkin less than 24 hours earlier. Larkin defeated St. Charles North 62-58 the previous week.

“It’s disappointing,” said Maroons coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. “We talked before the game that for us to take the next step up program-wise, we need to be consistent and win consecutive games.”

“My hat’s off to them and coach Masoncup. He had his team ready for this game.”

Melanie Berg had 6 points and 5 rebounds and Abby Pierre-Louis 5 points and 5 rebounds for Elgin. Alisha Panthier had a team-high 8 rebounds, and Jess Ramirez added 6.

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