St. Charles East will play for Johnson tourney title
St. Charles East's Justin Hardy doesn't mind the physical part of playing basketball.
In fact, he sort of embraces it.
While Downers Grove South used a variety of defenders on Hardy, the 6-foot-5 senior forward showed that he was more than up for the challenge with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals during the Saints' 70-51 victory Friday night in St. Charles.
With the win, the Saints (4-0) will aim for their second straight Ron Johnson Thanksgiving Tournament title Saturday night against perennial power St. Joseph (4-0).
Hardy showed his ability to drive to the basket and get to the free-throw line on the way to a 9-point opening quarter.
His buzzer-beating jumper from the paint enabled the Saints to build a 20-8 first-quarter advantage.
"They were a physical team," said Hardy. "The first guy (Eldwin Neritani) that was guarding me - I give him a lot of credit. He got me pumped up. He was all in my grill to start the game. I like to match anyone's physicality. I don't want to back down."
St. Charles East continued to pull away from the Mustangs (2-2) in the second quarter, enjoying a 12-2 run that extended the margin to 32-15 midway through the period.
The surge included Hardy's dunk off the drive and back-to-back 3-pointers from Jude Clodi (6 points) and Zach Robinson (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots).
Connecting on 7 of 15 3-point attempts (to the Mustangs' 0 of 8 from beyond the arc), the Saints held a commanding 42-18 halftime lead as Hardy and Nate Ortiz combined for 23 first-half points.
"I think this year more than last year, we've got secondary scorers like Zach Robinson and Nate Ortiz," said Saints coach Patrick Woods. "I don't think we had that last year."
After the Mustangs scored the first 4 points of the second half, the Saints responded with 9 unanswered points, capped by Ortiz's 3-pointer, to build their largest lead of the night at 51-21 with 3:28 left in the third quarter.
"It's a veteran team against a rookie team," said Mustangs coach Kris Olson. "I tell Pat (Woods) all the time that I wish I could come to his practices and learn how he teaches his offense where they kick it back (to shooters)."
Led by juniors Wesley Hooker (13 points, 13 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists) and Justin Eagins (10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), the Mustangs won the second half, 33-28.
"Unfortunately, there's four quarters in the game of basketball," said Woods. "I tried to tell the kids at halftime that I don't pay attention to the score when I'm coaching because it's all about developing habits.
"I was fairly pleased with the first half but very disappointed with the second half."
Woods hopes his team can put four quarters together against legendary coach Gene Pingatore's Chargers Saturday night.
"We've played them every year and it has always been a battle," said Woods. "I'm sure it'll be another one tomorrow night."