St. Charles East tunes up for postseason
Call it a method to the pre-madness.
St. Charles East's basketball team used Saturday's nonconference game against Elgin for a couple different reasons.
First and foremost, the Saints improved their record to 22-7 with a convincing 78-50 victory over the host Maroons (5-24).
Winning for the 13th time in their last 14 games, the Saints also had the opportunity to play at Chesbrough Fieldhouse - the site of the Class 4A regional that begins the week of March 2.
"We're happy to play here and get a little prepared for regional Tuesday," said Saints coach Patrick Woods, whose team faces Streamwood in its postseason opener on March 3 at Elgin. "The background shooting-wise is a little different so it was nice to get a game on their court, and we'll be back here a week from Tuesday for Streamwood."
Against the undermanned Maroons, St. Charles East left the outcome in little doubt by scoring the game's first 21 points during the opening 4 minutes.
The quick-hitting surge included 7 points from 6-foot-4 senior forward Thomas Ditsworth (13 points, 5 rebounds) and a pair of baskets by 6-4 senior forward Aidan Sullivan (10 points, 4 rebounds).
"It was a great start, especially after last night's game (80-73 win over Wheaton North)," said Ditsworth. "They came out firing, hitting six of their first nine 3s in the first quarter so that was a big point of emphasis for us today - to get out, push the tempo and play the way we want to play."
While 9 different players scored points in the first quarter for the Saints, the Maroons were besieged with ballhandling issues against St. Charles East's trapping pressure.
Elgin's 10 first-quarter turnovers proved costly as the Saints carried a 32-5 lead into the second stanza.
"They're really good," Maroons coach Todd Allen said of the Saints. "The turnovers put us in a hole and it's hard for us to fight back. Turnovers have been our struggle."
St. Charles East led 50-23 at halftime before Elgin outscored the Saints' reserves 15-10 in the third quarter to cut the gap to 60-38.
Manny Hernandez led the Maroons with 13 points, all of them coming in the middle 2 quarters.
"I was happy with the second half," said Allen. "They didn't quit. We've been trying to tell them move the ball, share the ball and trust your teammates. If we can do that, it gives us a chance in the fourth quarter."
Sean Sullivan led the Saints with 14 points, while Zack Clodi added 7 points and 3 assists, and Chase Monkemeyer had 7 points.
Woods went back to his starting lineup to open the fourth quarter, and the Saints scored 15 of the first 21 points to extend their lead to 75-44 with 3:41 remaining, kick-starting a running clock the rest of the way.
The Saints are now 15-1 in games where they've topped the 70-point mark.
"After we lost to (St. Charles) North (last week), all we talked about was starting another streak, so we have to keep that streak going," said Woods.