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St. Charles East rallies by St. Charles North

Trailing St. Charles North 24-16 at halftime, St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra offered a few words to her team in the locker room.

"I didn't think that was unreachable," Drumtra said of the deficit. "We just kind of challenged them. North brings a lot of energy and a lot of pressure. We talked about matching that intensity and energy."

With bodies diving on the floor for loose balls while putting an added emphasis on rebounding, the Saints (6-1, 2-0) battled their way to a 56-52 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over the visiting North Stars (3-3, 0-2) Saturday night.

Sophomore guard Samantha Munroe drained a clutch 3-pointer - her first basket of the game - with 1:25 remaining to break a 47-47 tie and give the Saints the lead for good.

"I just figured I was open," said Munroe. "It helped our team."

"She was open," said Drumtra. "They're going to key so much on Kyra (Washington) and KC (Katie Claussner) that we need players who are not afraid to take that shot."

Claussner (14 points), who struggled with her shooting (3 of 15 from the field; 8 of 14 at the free-throw line), connected on her last 6 foul shots to preserve the win for the Saints.

"I know Katie had a rough night at the line but she made them when she needed to," said Drumtra.

"A lot of bad words were going through my mind," said Claussner, who at one point misfired on 6 of 7 free throws. "I was really down on myself but my teammates were the ones who picked me up."

Teammates like 6-foot freshman forward Sara Rosenfeldt, who scored 14 of her team-high 17 points during the Saints' 40-point second half.

"She doesn't play like a freshman," Drumtra said of Rosenfeldt, who also collected 9 rebounds while refusing to give ground down low to the North Stars' Morgan Rosencrants (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Nichole Davidson (21 points, 10 rebounds).

"In the first half, she was about the only one getting offensive boards for us," said Drumtra. "I'm really proud of her."

Drumtra was also pleased with her team's second-half execution on the offensive end.

"We were settling for outside shots in the first half," said the coach. "In the second half, I thought our dribble-drive worked pretty well and we got to the line."

The Saints attempted 26 second-half free throws (making 14).

Claire Jakaitis joined Davidson and Rosencrants in double figures with 10 points for the North Stars, who suffered their second consecutive narrow defeat to begin conference play.

"I hope it does," said Masoncup when asked if the 0-2 start might light an emotional fire for his team. "We have the players to be able to do it. It's whether they decide if they want to be as good as I know they can be. We have to figure out how to get to that point.

"You've got to give credit to St. Charles East - they made some plays," added Masoncup. "We'll be ready the next time."

Washington added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Saints.

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