St. Charles North pulls away from Batavia
Nothing came easy for Batavia Friday night in a battle of Upstate Eight River unbeatens - which is just the way St. Charles North likes it.
The North Stars played physical, lockdown, man-to-man defense, making life miserable for Batavia on the offensive end. The Bulldogs made just 11 field goals in the North Stars' 56-46 victory.
It was a frustrating night for Batavia, who picked up 2 technical fouls in the second half while having no answer for St. Charles North senior Kyle King's career-high 27 points.
"We were talking about keeping our composure so seeing them do that in their own home is nice," King said. "Those extra points were huge."
The North Stars (7-3, 3-0) head to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament next week, then start the new year on Jan. 5 playing Larkin for the conference lead.
They will take the momentum of Friday's road win as St. Charles North overcame a 9-point deficit in the first half to take control of the game in the third quarter.
"That's how you need to play on the road in the Upstate Eight," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "We have nothing but respect for Batavia so when you come here with that atmosphere and competitiveness, I think we took a step in the right direction."
Batavia (7-2, 3-1) got off to a good start, up 11-7 after one quarter and taking its biggest lead at 18-9 on Kyle LeFevre's 3-point basket early in the second quarter.
But the Bulldogs didn't make another shot in the quarter as the North Stars closed the first half on a 13-3 run to take a 22-21 halftime lead.
Batavia briefly regained a 26-25 lead in the third quarter on a conventional 3-point play from Jayden Johnson before the North Stars' 16-5 surge opened a double-digit lead at 41-31 with 5 minutes remaining. King scored 10 of the points that included a Eurostep transition layup, putback bucket and a 3-point basket.
"He can play inside, outside, in transition," Poulin said. "We have to play through him."
That stretch also included the first Batavia technical on Blake Carlson. The second technical, on Riley Cooper, came right after Eric Peterson drilled back-to-back 3s to cut the 10-point deficit to 43-39.
Lucas Heflen sank both technical free throws to push the lead back to 6 with 2:33 remaining.
"We were stagnant on offense, second shots, lane violations, technical fouls," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "It's not who we are."
Heflen and Cade Callaghan helped seal the win for St. Charles North when both grabbed offensive rebounds off missed free throws in the final minute.
"Those two guys are two of our more scrappy players every day," Poulin said. "Those were huge. That's the ballgame down the stretch because we didn't do a good job closing the ballgame out."
The North Stars outrebounded the Bulldogs 28-17 led by King's 10. Callaghan added 11 points.
LeFevre led Batavia with 17 points and Peterson scored 16.
"St. Charles North did a lot of good things tonight," Nazos said. "They exposed some of the things we need to take care of. King is a very nice player. He's hurt us for three years. St. Charles North was the aggressor. They were the aggressor in every single facet."
After beating Batavia in football only to see the Bulldogs go on to win the Class 7A state title, the North Stars took a little extra satisfaction in Friday's win.
Tyler Nubin, who had 7 points and 4 rebounds off the bench, is the only North Star who played Friday who also was on the field for the football win. He spent much of his night on the court guarding Peterson who he also matched up with on the football field.
"You feel happy for them because winning state is a huge accomplishment, but it's always good to beat your rival, and we did that," Nubin said. "It feels amazing coming in and beating them in a hostile environment. We got the job done.
"Peterson is a great player, he's one of the toughest kids I've ever had to guard. I just focused on not letting him get any open shots."