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St. Charles East scores 102 at Chuck Dayton tourney

Every coach could go for the type of problem St. Charles East's Patrick Woods addressed in a timeout Monday in the first round of the 87th annual Chuck Dayton tournament in DeKalb.

Woods called time with five minutes left against Mundelein to instruct his team on how to react if they reached 100 points.

"I told the kids when you get 100 we're not going to go wild on the bench," Woods said. "I tried to get them to do a golf clap. It was a little more than a golf clap."

As Woods said, it's a good problem to have.

Mike Settle hit the 3-pointer - the team's 14th of the game - to reach the century mark with 35 seconds left. Jeremy Champine added a layup for the final points in the Saints' 102-66 win over Mundelein.

"That was a cool experience," said Settle, the 10th player off the Saints bench. "The whole place got excited. Getting 100 points is pretty crazy."

Nobody could remember the last time a St. Charles school scored 100. The Saints got there by making 41 of their 69 field goal attempts (59.4 percent), and they also shot 42 percent from 3. Eight players had at least 8 points.

"Believe me we were not trying to score 100," Woods said. "Although it happened we weren't trying to embarrass anyone. We didn't press, most of our starters played half the game. At that point you have to play and that's what we did I thought."

St. Charles East (9-1), the No. 1 seed who was a late add to the tournament in May when told by Proviso West it wasn't good enough to return there, scored 29 points in the first quarter, 24 in the second and 22 in the third to enter the fourth quarter up 75-41.

With the starters all on the bench and even some of the top reserves out in the fourth, the Saints kept blistering the nets.

Champine opened the quarter with a drive, then Jake Clodi, Settle and Clodi again swished 3s.

Grayson Brucato became the sixth different Saint with a trey for a 97-64 lead, setting up the Settle 3 off a drive and dish from Clodi that gave St. Charles East it first 100-point game since "the 1990s," Woods said.

"They should be happy, they work hard," Woods said. "They put a lot of time and effort. It means a lot to them."

Mundelein (0-10) led briefly early, the last at 4-2 on Kevin Marcotte's basket before Jake Asquini drained the first of his four first-half 3-pointers.

By the end of the first quarter the Saints led 29-12, and it was 53-24 at half.

"They are good. They are ranked for a reason," Mundelein coach Corey Knigge said. "We just have to defend. We didn't defend well. But they are so skilled, they spread you out and they have a lot of kids who can shoot. They are rolling five or six kids off the bench who can shoot. They are a good basketball team."

Gentry scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half, Asquini all 14 of his. Gentry, the Saints point guard, shot 11 times and made nine.

Three times after a Mundelein basket Gentry took the ball the other way and scored in transition less than five seconds later.

"We've been talking a lot about pace and our coaches saying we can play faster," Gentry said. "It starts with me. It's been a big point of emphasis especially if a team scores on us we want to get them right back. It's deflating for them if we come back and score right away."

Jack Bronec led the Saints in the third quarter with 9 points. He finished as the third player in double figures with 13 points plus 12 rebounds.

Having so many offensive weapons has been the story all year for the high-scoring Saints, yet not good enough to return to Proviso West.

"That was a fun tournament to play in at Proviso but we're just going to make the most of the situation over here," Gentry said. "We're just going to compete and our goal is to win it obviously. We think we have a team that can."

Woods concurred, and the Saints will continue that quest in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday against Sterling.

"I was really disappointed in the Proviso West thing, how it shook out," Woods said. "To cancel teams in late May I thought was beyond unprofessional and poor. On top of it we were told we were not good enough. Absolutely it puts a chip on our shoulder because I think we've worked hard to get where we're at. I even told them this is going to be my best team. But I'm happy to be here, it's a well-run event. I'm looking forward to the challenge we'll have in the games ahead."

Mundelein senior Tyler Olson led all scorers with 28 points including a half-court shot to end the first half. Tommy Marcotte scored 12 and Kevin Marcotte 10.

"He can shoot the ball," Knigge said of Olson. "We just have to keep working and get better."

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