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Ludwig, St. Charles North stun St. Charles East

Jake Ludwig stuck it to St. Charles East — twice.

Trailing by 2 points with 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter Saturday, St. Charles North's senior guard stole an inbounds pass along East's sideline, peeled back and converted a layup that sent the crosstown rivalry game into overtime.

With 2.8 seconds left in overtime Ludwig swished a 25-foot 3-pointer to give the North Stars a 78-75 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory at St. Charles North.

“It was a huge win for us just because of staying in the conference race. We want to win the conference and this is crucial. They're an impressive team, ranked top-10 in the state, and it's huge,” said Ludwig, who scored a team-high 22 points.

“I thought they'd be keying on my drive so I figured, pull up.”

From just across the time line, St. Charles East forward Mick Vyzral's desperation 3 — he hit 5 of them for a career-high double-double of 24 points, 14 rebounds — went wide.

“I feel like they just wanted it more,” Vyzral said. “They came out with more energy to start the game. Hat's off to them. They just made a few extra plays and they ended up winning the game.”

Fans stacked to the top row saw St. Charles North (12-7, 6-2) beat the Saints for the first time in three meetings this season, reversing a four-game streak.

“Before the game we kind of challenged them, you know, what kind of men are you?” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “Can you step up and fight and not allow them to get you three times and defend your home court — just what kind of men are you? Can you open your chest up and give your teammate your heart?”

St. Charles East (15-2, 7-1) lost its first River Division contest and gives hope to St. Charles North and 5-1 Geneva.

“I said in the beginning of the year, there's no one in our conference that was going to run the table. Those are my exact words. It was going to be a battle and it proved to be true tonight,” said Saints coach Patrick Woods.

“I give North all the credit in the world,” Woods said. “I'm not saying it's our fault, credit them for taking us out and being relentless in the pursuit of the basketball on the boards (37 North Stars rebounds, 13 offensive) and making big plays when big plays were needed. They did all of that well. I thought they played harder than us tonight overall. My hat is definitely tipped to them.”

St. Charles East's 46-38 lead with 3:30 left in the third quarter was the greatest margin. St. Charles North's Jack Callaghan, who scored 13 points with 11 rebounds, converted two straight three-point plays, and after an East basket, 11-point scorer Mike Schroeder made a floater and an inside basket off Ludwig's assist to tie 48-48.

The North Stars entered the fourth quarter leading 52-51 on an all-alone putback by Armon Osborne, who made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

“I thought Mikey did a great job driving and then dishing to me,” Callaghan said. “That was what our offensive goal was, to drive and dish and get open looks. Yeah, that was a big momentum swing, and that's why I think we took it into the fourth and overtime.”

St. Charles East point guard Cole Gentry, scoring 22 points, teamed with Vyzral to give the Saints a 67-66 lead with 2:14 left in regulation. Jake Asquini, who scored 11 points, hit a pair of free throws and James McQuillan added another for a 70-66 Saints lead with 43.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Ludwig made 2 free throws with 32.2 seconds left then came up with his baseline steal and layup for a 70-70 tie with 26.9 seconds left. St. Charles East missed a 3-pointer for the win in regulation.

“I just saw an opportunity to get the ball and it just worked out,” Ludwig said.

St. Charles East led 73-72 with 1:06 left in overtime when Callaghan, 0-for-4 from the floor in the fourth quarter, canned a 3 from the top of the key, courtesy of John Davern's offensive rebound. Gentry sank a 15-footer to tie 75-75 with 18.6 seconds left.

Poulin considered calling a timeout.

“I was sitting there going, let's see what we get, if we don't get anything in transition I'll take a timeout,” he said. “And then I thought, if I take a timeout I'm going to draw something up to get the ball into Jake's hands. It's in his hands, let's let him play.”

It was a winner.

“That's as good as any game we've ever had, that's for sure,” Poulin said.

At Moline:

Geneva went 2-0 in first-day action at Moline's Martin Luther King Jr. exhibition. The Vikings (14-2) opened with a 67-33 victory over Evergreen Park, which scored 16 first-quarter points but totaled 17 the rest of the way. Nate Navigato made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points and Loudon Vollbrecht added 10 points.

Geneva then beat Marian Catholic 48-45 in a game tied 37-37 after three quarters. Vollbrecht clinched the win with a pair of free throws, among his 12 points. Navigato scored 24 points to give the Vikings three wins, counting Friday's 48-36 win over St. Charles North, in a day's work.

“I'd say it's a pretty good 24 hours,” said Geneva coach Phil Ralston.

  St. Charles North's Griffin Hammer (21) and Jack Callaghan (center) attempt to block a shot by St. Charles East's Cole Gentry in the first quarter Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Jake Ludwig, the hero at the end, tries to take a charge against St. Charles East's Cole Gentry. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East's Evan DiLeonardi denies a shot by St. Charles North's Jacob Ludwig in the second quarter Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Griffin Hammer (21) and injured teammate Jake Spaniol celebrate their overtime win over St. Charles East Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
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