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St. Charles North nips Hampshire in final seconds

It might be asking a lot from a freshman who has only played seven quarters of varsity basketball. But, St. Charles North's Alyssa Hughes made the play of the game enabling the North Stars to pull out a 43-41 over Hampshire Thursday night at the Tom Kendall Thanksgiving Tournament at Hoffman Estates.

Hughes, who helped the 2-0 North Stars fuel a fourth quarter run, had the assist on a play to Emma Nawara for the winning basket with one second left in regulation.

"Talia Pellegrini got the rebound and she passed the ball to me," said Hughes who scored 8 points. "I looked down court and I was able to get the bounce pass to Emma and she made the play. I could hear our sideline giving me support on that play."

"To my way of thinking there were seven or eight thousand things Alyssa could have done wrong on that play," said St. Charles North coach Mike Tomczak. "There was only one thing she could have done right and the bounce pass to her teammate is a drill that we do in practice all the time. I credit Emma also for not traveling, gathering herself and knocking the shot down. No freshman (Hughes) should be put in that situation. It was trial by fire."

Trailing the Whip-Purs 36-31 going into the fourth quarter, Hughes helped finish a 9-3 run by hitting three of four free throws for a 41-39 lead with :31 left.

Kelby Bannerman (17 points, 10 rebounds) tied the game with :10 left by making a pair of free throws.

Hampshire (0-2) was able to get the ball right back when the inbounds pass went out of bounds. The Whip-Purs could not make their shot setting the stage for Nawara's basket.

"Maybe I should have called a timeout and set up a better play on our shot," said Hampshire coach Eric Samuelson. "I'm really proud of their effort. We lost six players from last year's conference championship team. You bring in a young team like ours and you never know what's going to happen. These are the types a games that you learn from. Kelby's job this year is going to make the other players better and she will do that."

The Whip-Purs had their way early on leading 14-9 after one quarter and 28-22 at halftime.

"We switched from a zone to a man defense in the second half," said Tomczak, "and that made a big difference. We usually don't give up 28 points in a half."

"This was a tough game for us," said Hughes. "We were able to pick up our pressure in the fourth quarter and it helped us to come out with the win."

Tatum Settelmyer led St. Charles North with 10 points and Eva Saltaman scored eight. Freshman Ceili Ramirez scored 6 points for Hampshire and had 3 steals.

  Hampshire's Kelby Bannerman moves the ball against St. Charles North during varsity girls basketball at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Hampshire's Katelyn Del Re shoots against St. Charles North during varsity girls basketball at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Hampshire's Kelby Bannerman grabs a rebound against St. Charles North during varsity girls basketball at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Alyssa Hughes takes a shot against Hampshire during varsity girls basketball at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles North's Eva Saltsman takes a shot against Hampshire during varsity girls basketball at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Hampshire's Ceili Ramirez, left, and St. Charles North's Tatum Settelmyer battle for the ball Thursday at the Tom Kendall Pilgrim Classic tournament at Hoffman Estates High School. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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