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Callaghan's versatility leads St. Charles North over Larkin

There are turning points to every game.

With senior guard Jake Ludwig forced to the bench after picking up his fourth foul late in the third quarter, St. Charles North needed someone to take charge Friday night against Larkin.

The North Stars turned to Jack Callaghan and the versatile senior veteran passed the test, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half during their 59-46 Upstate Eight Conference River Division triumph over Larkin (6-4, 4-2) in St. Charles.

"It's always tough when Jake (Ludwig) goes out because he's probably our best ballhandler and scorer but we've got a lot of depth at the guard position," said Callaghan, who also collected a team-high 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

"We trust our teammates when he gets into foul trouble."

St. Charles North (6-4, 4-1) held a 39-28 lead when Ludwig drew his fourth foul with 2:38 left in the third quarter.

Larkin finished the quarter with 4 straight points to make it 43-36 and then pulled within 43-39 on a 3-point basket by Keyvon Kyles (17 points) with 7:41 remaining.

That is when the North Stars displayed some of their depth, as junior Armon Osborne's driving layup ignited a 9-1 run to extend the lead back to double digits.

Callaghan also played an instrumental part, hitting a pair of free throws, assisting on a jumper in the paint by Brendan McCarthy and draining a wide-open 3-pointer near the top of the key to make it 52-40 with 5:40 left.

Larkin never got within 9 the rest of the way.

"Jack can play inside and out," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said of Callaghan. "He's got a high basketball IQ. He plays a large role for us."

Despite giving up a few inches, the 6-3 Callaghan more than held his own down low.

"He was finishing around the rim well," said Poulin. "That's a pretty big front line Larkin has but I was proud of the way Jack finished. We're going to need to finish through contact against people bigger than us."

The North Stars also excelled defensively, limiting the Royals' 6-5 senior Daniel McFadden and 6-6 sophomore Christian Negron to 7 and 6 points, respectively.

"I think we did a nice job collapsing and shrinking the defense," said Poulin. "It was a team effort but I thought (sophomore) Griffin Hammer stepped up big-time as far as defending Christian (Negron). He was locked in with what our game plan was asking him to do."

Hammer contributed 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and a pair of assists.

"He keeps taking steps forward," said Poulin.

Ludwig scored 8 of his game-high 19 points in the opening quarter when the North Stars took an 18-8 lead.

Larkin, meanwhile, connected on just 4 of its 19 first-quarter field goal attempts and shot 34 percent (15 of 44) for the game.

"We were missing some shots that we make (normally)," said Royals coach Deryn Carter, "but we didn't get much offense from our defense and that is a big staple of what we do.

"I thought when they dictated what they wanted to do they made some runs and when we dictated what we wanted to do we made runs. Over the 32-minute stretch, they did a better job than we did. Hats off to them - they got us. The only good thing I guess is that we get to play tomorrow (3 p.m. in the Hinkle Tournament at Jacobs)."

Junior guard Mikey Schroeder added 12 points for the North Stars, who have now won 4 of their last 5.

"I'm real happy with the win," said Poulin. "That's a good win. Larkin is a very, very good basketball team."

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