St. Charles North tops East Aurora for 5th at SCE tourney
St. Charles North entered Saturday's fifth-place game at the 57th annual Ron Johnson Thanksgiving tournament looking for a spark, which is just what senior guard Jarod Karom provided.
Karom scored 22 points, draining four 3-pointers. One of those 3s came just before the halftime buzzer, turning a 2-point lead into a 5-point advantage.
East Aurora never seriously threatened in the second half of the North Stars' 68-58 victory.
"I just spotted up and waited for the ball to come back to me," Karom said. "It was a good way to end the half."
And it was a good way for St. Charles North (2-2) to end the tournament after coach Tom Poulin was disappointed in his team's effort in a loss to Metea Valley and their execution at times in a defeat against Downers Grove South.
"We were engaged," Poulin said. "We had spirit from the jump to the end. I felt we were more of a team today than we have been the first three games. We're going to need to be a team for us to be successful."
East Aurora (1-3) defeated the North Stars twice in summer games. The Tomcats and North Stars traded the lead 6 times in the first half, the final one on Maurice Nichols' 3-point play to open the second quarter.
Griffin Hammer quickly tied the game at 16 on the first of his 2 first-half dunks. Mikey Schroeder drilled a 3 on the North Stars' next possession to make it 19-16, and they never trailed again.
Karom, Schroeder and Hammer all were in double figures by halftime with the North Stars leading 36-31, and they finished with 22, 21 and 11 points, respectively.
Schroeder made the all-tournament team.
"We played hard defense and did the little things," Karom said. "We played a lot better today than we have in the past and I'm excited to see what happens next."
The North Stars went on a 13-4 run to start the second half and extend their lead to 49-35. Karom scored 8 points in the surge, and the Tomcats didn't get closer than 8 points the rest of the game.
"Jarod played his best game of the tournament," Poulin said. "I thought everyone we went to off the bench came in and tried to do the right thing. We were looking inside more than we have. We have to play that way. If we play inside/out it will make a big difference."
Poulin said another difference was beating the Tomcats 31-28 on the boards led by 8 from Jake Spaniol. The North Stars shot much better at 52.5 percent (21 of 40) to East Aurora's 40.3.
Nichols led East Aurora with 27 points, and Franklin Montgomery scored 13.
"The third quarter it got away from us," East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said. "To St. Charles North's credit they played great with the lead spreading the floor and taking care of the ball. I like our progress we made this week."