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St. Charles East downs East Aurora

Suddenly, St. Charles East did not find its season opener quite as humorous.

The Saints appeared to have a laugher on their hands after scoring 40 of the first 61 points against East Aurora in the nightcap of first-round action of the Ron Johnson Boys Basketball Tournament.

But the Saints would need all the fourth-quarter heroics Zach Hondlik could muster to hold off a valiant East Aurora comeback Monday night in St. Charles.

The senior forward scored 10 successive points in the fourth quarter; Hondlik tied teammate Justin Hardy for game-scoring honors as the Saints prevailed 61-53.

East Aurora sliced 13 points off its early second-half deficit, closing to within 45-39 when prized freshman Traevon Brown beat the third-quarter buzzer with a banked-in 3-pointer and opened the fourth with another 3-pointer.

"After (Brown) hit those two 3s, we started trapping him more," Hondlik said. "We started to run our press break better."

The Saints' repeated ability to score in transition after solving the Tomcats' famed pressure defense was a major subplot to the game.

It would be necessary as the Tomcats (0-1) would have consecutive possessions following the back-to-back Brown 3-pointers to further erode their deficit.

But the Saints had stops on both trips.

"We just talked to the kids about that," East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said of the lost opportunities.

Hondlik scored all three of his field goals in the fourth quarter and added 4 free throws to complete his personal team run.

East Aurora would never come closer than the final score on the last of four Brown 3-pointers.

The Tomcats were further stymied by losing three starters to fouls over the last four-plus minutes.

But the Saints also missed their fair share of opportunities as the squad missed 14 free throws.

"We were kind of joking about that," St. Charles East coach Patrick Woods said. "We shoot 98 percent in practice; the game comes and we struggle (at the line). Hondlik definitely did some good things and stepped up."

St. Charles East (1-0) never trailed in using a 10-0 run to break free from the only tie of the game to take a 12-2 lead.

With unmistakable height advantages at all three positions, the Saints were unrelenting in building a 33-18 halftime lead.

East Aurora missed all 10 of its 3-point field-goal attempts in the first half.

"It's very hard for us to simulate their height and length in practice," Jeffries said. "They go 6- (feet)-4 and 6-5 across the board, and we have all these 5-10 guys."

Evan DiLeonardi was the third St. Charles East player in double figures with 13 points; fourth and fifth starters James McQuillan and J.T. Ford added seven apiece.

"St. Charles, I thought played well," Jeffries said. "It's tough to beat a team in the opener on their home court."

Brown led the Tomcats with 14 points.

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