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Schaumburg zones out St. Charles North

You could say Schaumburg's girls basketball team was zoned in for Tuesday's nonconference game with visiting St. Charles North.

And so was the Saxons' Ariana Doroskin in the fourth quarter.

The 5-foot-11 senior guard scored all 6 of her team's points in those eight minutes which helped the hosts put away a 31-27 triumph.

Saxons coach Jacqui Storm switched her team into a zone and it paid off as the North Stars were held well under their average (mid-40s).

"It was probably our best defensive effort, especially in a zone," she said. "Getting out of man-to-man and going to zone was a little bit of a risk we took. But it paid off in our favor."

It helped that the North Stars (6-4) did not a hit a 3-pointer (0-for-14) for the first time all season.

"You can credit Schaumburg - they were in that 2-3 zone and we shot for 0-for-14," said North Stars coach Mike Tomczak. "It's tough to win when you do that."

Doroskin was tough in the final period.

St. Charles North junior Caroline Jakaitis tied the game at 25-25 with 6:55 left in the game.

The North Stars regained possession for a chance to take the lead, however, Doroskin made a steal in the visitors' frontcourt.

She then raced down the court and hit a 6-foot-runner to put her team ahead 27-25 with 5:30 left.

Neither team scored until 2:30 remained.

And it was Doroskin again, this time rebounding her own miss for the putback and a 29-25 lead.

The visitors got back to within 29-27 on 2 free throws by senior Annie Tate with 2:05 left.

Schaumburg (6-6) senior Meghan Luecht had a big rebound with 50 seconds left and St. Charles was forced to foul three times to get the Saxons into the bonus.

Finally, it was - who else? - Doroskin who went to the line and converted 2 free throws with 25.3 seconds for the 31-27 final count.

"Those were a very important 6 points (by Doroskin in the final quarter)," Storm said. "She has been stepping up when we've needed her to and acting like a senior."

"We had a really good second half," Doroskin said. "We knew they were a really good team. We were down at half and knew we had to score in pressure situations. We just came out really strong in the second half."

The North Stars used a 6-0 run late in the first half to take an 18-11 lead before junior guard Talia Torosian hit a 3-pointer with five seconds to make it 18-14 at intermission.

"It's tough to come back from scoring 14 points in the first half," Storm said. "But we managed to hit some shots in the second half, kept our composure and handled their pressure better.

"At first we were letting up some offensive rebounds early in the game. We stopped that when we went to the zone. We started collecting rebounds on that first shot and that was a game changer for us."

Tate and Jakaitis each scored 11 points each to lead SCN.

"We were coming off probably out best game of the year against one of our toughest opponents (59-43 over an 8-2 Lake Park team) and then we come out and play like this," Tomczak said. "It's frustrating. You don't want to think you were looking ahead and behind at the same time, but that's what it was like.

"I thought defensively we did a few nice things. You hold a team to 31 points that's good, but you should be able to win a game. But if you shoot zero percent from the arc, and most were uncontested expect the ones at the end, you're not going to win a lot of games."

It was a game on which Schaumburg can build.

"We said afterward that was a good team we played," Storm said. "We've been saying 'when are we going to be beat a good team?, when are we going to step up and finish a game?', and I think we did that tonight"

Torosian led Schaumburg with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Doroskin finished with 9 points (one 3-pointer) and teammate Vicky Aguirre collected 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 key assists.

"Vicky is a great passer," Storm added. "Every time she touched the ball tonight our team was better."

  St. Charles North's Emma Ludwig takes a jump shot during Tuesday's game at Schaumburg. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Emma Nawara shoots from beneath the basket in front of Schaumburg defender Talia Torosian (14) during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Schaumburg's Meghan Luecht, left, tries to take the ball from St. Charles North's Emma Nawara during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Emma Ludwig, left, leads a fast break as Schaumburg's Alyssa Orozco follows closely during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Schaumburg's Katie Smith drives to the basket against St. Charles North defenders Emma Ludwig, middle, and Caroline Jakaitis during Tuesday's game in Schaumburg. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Schaumburg girls basketball coach Jacqie Strauch makes a substitution during Tuesday's game in Schaumburg. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North girls basketball coach Mike Tomczak leads his team during Tuesday's game at Schaumburg. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Annie Tate, middle, looks for an open teammate while Schaumburg's Alyssa Orozco, left, and Katie Smith defend during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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