St. Charles North stymies West Chicago

St. Charles North's girls basketball team sharpened its collective defensive claws Friday night.

Limiting West Chicago to 13 points through the first 3 quarters, the North Stars (17-7, 10-3) cruised to a 49-24 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over the Wildcats in St. Charles.

"That's what we work on," North Stars coach Sean Masoncup said of his team's man-to-man defense that forced 24 turnovers and held the Wildcats to just 3 baskets during the middle 2 quarters. "It's what we challenged them at the beginning of the game - how many defensive possessions can we limit them to one opportunity?

"That's going to become huge in the regional (tournament)."

After the Wildcats' Marie Culloton hit a short jumper to trim the early deficit to 7-6, the North Stars enjoyed a monumental 28-3 surge over the next 17 minutes to put the wraps on their Senior Night festivities.

Junior forwards Claire Jakaitis and Morgan Rosencrants scored 10 and 8 points, respectively, during the run that also included a pair of 3-point baskets from senior guard Sam Novak (6 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds).

"Sam can do that," said Masoncup. "She also played great defensively. She had a whole bunch of little tips and deflections. I think we had 15 deflections in the first half which is huge."

St. Charles North held West Chicago (9-17, 4-9) without a point for nearly 13 minutes during the second and third quarters.

The Wildcats also misfired on 6 consecutive free throws during the stretch - part of their 2-of-15 struggles from the foul line for the game.

"We just couldn't make a free throw," said Wildcats coach Kim Wallner. "It seems to me with this team if one or two people are off, then we're all off, shooting-wise especially."

Ahead 27-9 at halftime, the North Stars outscored the Wildcats 10-4 in the third quarter to build a 37-13 advantage heading into the final 8 minutes.

Rosencrants had 11 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Jakaitis added 10 points 6 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as the North Stars earned their second win in 10 days over West Chicago.

"They're not a bad team," Masoncup said of the Wildcats. "We played them a week and a half ago (67-42 victory) so to be able to up against a Hall of Fame coach (Wallner) and still be able to execute says a lot about our girls."

Nichole Davidson (6 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) and Ashling Davern (2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) joined Novak in the North Stars' Senior Night celebration.

"It was great - it was so much fun," said Novak. "But it's sad. It has gone by fast. I can't believe it's a reality."

Perhaps the best part is that it wasn't the final home game for the North Stars, who have won 10 of their last 11.

After facing nonconference power Glenbard South next Tuesday, the North Stars will host a 6-team Class 4A regional beginning Feb. 16.

Nayeli Lara led the Wildcats with 6 points.

"We're just battling," said Wallner. "We try to work hard the whole game and we try to keep getting better. I tried to let the young kids play at the end. We had three freshmen out there in the fourth quarter."