St. Charles North's team effort downs Cary-Grove
Unselfish teamwork.
Those two words aptly describe the fabric of the St. Charles North offense.
Scoring 16 baskets with 13 assists, the North Stars carved out a 43-39 nonconference girls basketball win over Cary-Grove in Cary Tuesday night.
"These girls really get excited about assists," said St. Charles North coach Mike Tomczak. "We had a game with 20 assists and this is a very unselfish group. Our mentality is to get the ball to the open girl. We have a very talented team with great chemistry."
The North Stars (15-8) were led by Anna Davern with 12 points and 3 assists while Lizzy Olsem filled the stat sheet with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
'We are a very unselfish team." said Olsem. "We really work hard in practice on passing the ball and finding the open girl. We had a rocky beginning of the season but we are playing very well with the regionals coming up."
The North Stars seemed to be in good shape when freshman guard Jaz Harmon canned a 12-footer in the lane to give the visitors a 37-29 lead with 2:53 left in the game.
But Katie Sowa and the Trojans (13-11) refused to quit. Sowa, with a 3-pointer and two nifty left-handed shots in the lane, scored all 8 points during a Cary-Grove 8-0 run.
Sowa's long 3 from the deep left corner with 1:56 left tied the game at 37.
Those would be the last points the Trojans would score in the contest. Baskets by Davern and Harmon keyed North's 6-0 run to end the game.
"I liked the way we responded at the end of the game when Cary-Grove tied the game," said Tomczak. "We play in a very tough conference with the likes of Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles East so we are battled tested. This was a good road win against a very good Cary-Grove team."
Sowa, connecting on 3-of-5 from 3-point range, scored 20 of the Trojans' 37 points while Maddie Gorz netted 7 with a trey.
"Katie really carried us and played a great game." said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We played very well against a very good St. Charles North team. They are tough inside and they have kids who can make 3s. It is a game we could have and should have won. We have three days to practice hard for Saturday's game at Hampshire."