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Tough weekend gets tougher for St. Charles North

The resiliency and character of the St. Charles North boys basketball team will certainly be put to the test in the upcoming week after suffering a couple of disappointing losses over the weekend.

The North Stars had already lost a heartbreaker by 1 point to rival Geneva on Friday before falling at home to a talented St. Joseph team 55-47 on Saturday.

"It was definitely a tough weekend for us," North coach Tom Poulin said. "We need to turn the page quickly because we have Geneva coming up again this week. We'll get right back at it on Monday in practice. This group will bounce back. They don't have the type of personalities to stay down for long. Moving forward, this will make us tougher and more tournament-ready."

The North Stars (13-9) hung tough for most of the first half and led 21-20 late in the second quarter. However, things began to go downhill from there.

The Chargers scored the final 6 points of the first half to grab a 26-21 lead and then went on an 8-2 run to start the third quarter to expand the lead to 34-23.

"I think this game put a spotlight on how we need to get back to the details on defense," Poulin said. "We were caught out of position way too many times. We weren't committed to putting a body on them and we weren't getting back in transition. It just started to snowball."

The North Stars made one more push to stay close. Brendan Dal Degan hit 3 free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt and Lucas Heflen followed with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 34-29 with 2:27 left in the third quarter. However, that would be as close as the North Stars would get the rest of the way.

St. Joseph (14-8) went an 11-0 run to open its largest lead of the game 45-29 early in the fourth quarter.

The North Stars also struggled on offense, shooting just 15 of 42 (36 percent) from the field.

"I don't know if the effects of the loss to Geneva were still lingering or if it was what St. Joseph was doing," Poulin said. "Whatever it was, we just didn't play very well tonight."

Heflen was a bright spot off the bench for the North Stars with a game-high 12 points.

"He plays like a starter even though he comes off the bench,"Poulin said. "He's going to continue to make a positive impact for us moving forward."

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