Experience pays off for Linke, St. Charles North

Connor Linke was giving up three inches to Bartlett 6-foot-10 center Conrad Luczynski.

The sophomore Luczynski was giving up two years of experience to his 6-7 St. Charles North counterpart.

Linke's veteran savvy helped St. Charles North gain separation from the Hawks in the second quarter of a 61-42 nonconference road win Wednesday.

Bartlett (2-5) had just pulled within 16-15 on a Luczynski right-handed bank shot with 5:20 left in the second quarter when Linke and the North Stars made their move.

St. Charles North (7-1) closed the second quarter on a 15-8 run behind their Bradley-bound big man. Linke scored 10 of his game-high 16 points over that span. His inside bucket against Luczynski with three seconds left lifted the North Stars to a 31-23 halftime lead.

"I'm a pretty physical player," Linke said. "I know I can use my body to get between the rim and him on rebounds and bully ball almost, try to go over him. I tried to use my athleticism over him and be smart with the ball, using head fakes and all the post moves I've learned through the years."

Luczynski finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds, but he found it difficult to defend the 220-pound Linke, who made 5 of 5 second-quarter shots.

"He puts a lot of body into you," Luczynski said. "When he does that, I try to reach over and that's when they call the foul or whatever. I just have to work harder. More footwork."

Senior point guard Luke Scheffers scored 4 of his 15 points in the third quarter as the North Stars moved to a 44-33 lead.

Sophomore Max Love opened the final quarter with consecutive fast break buckets to make it a 15-point game. Love finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

The North Stars won the rebounding battle 33-27, shot 54.5% from the field (24 of 44) and limited their turnovers to 13. Still, something was a bit off, said their coach.

"I'm happy we came in and got a win but we were a little bit sloppy and a little bit undisciplined on both ends," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "With the concepts we use offensively and the rules we use defensively, we kind of blurred the lines of the details of our system. We could play much better. But you know what? We got the win on the road at Bartlett and that's never an easy thing."

Senior forward Thomas Kellen finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds for St. Charles North.

Bartlett junior guard George Betevis contributed 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.