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St. Charles East continues 3-point barrage in win over DeKalb

Good things seem to come in threes for St. Charles East's boys basketball team.

Less than 24 hours after making 11 3-pointers in a 32-point victory over Streamwood, the Saints returned to knock down 8 more 3-point baskets during Saturday's 70-56 triumph over DeKalb in the 25th Annual Jim and Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops at Batavia.

St. Charles East (12-7), which pulled away from the pesky Barbs (12-10) during a 20-7 third-quarter surge, received strong all-around performances from seniors Justin Hardy, Zach Robinson and junior Nate Ortiz.

The trio combined for 54 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, led by Hardy's 21-point, 7-assist effort.

"Defensively, we struggled in the first half," said Hardy, who scored 12 of the Saints' 20 second-quarter points. "I don't know if we were tired from last night (75-43 win over Streamwood). They (the Barbs) played last night, too, so we've got no excuse for that.

"In the second half, we locked in. We just said we were going to stay in front of our man defensively."

Ortiz added 18 points, 8 of which came in the third quarter. The 6-foot-3 guard connected on a team-high four 3-pointers.

"We had to find a sense of urgency," said Ortiz, whose team led 35-32 at halftime. "I thought we established our will and established our presence inside especially (in the third quarter) - not settling for as many jump shots.

"Defensively, we knew we had to force them inside. I thought we did a good job of adjusting our game plan."

Ortiz, who often draws opponents' toughest defensive assignment, was pleased to make an equally large contribution on the offensive end.

"I know how much they want me to play well and I know how much I want to play well so it feels really good," said Ortiz.

Robinson, who tallied a career-high 30 points against Streamwood, finished with 15 points and 4 assists.

"I feel like we've had two (guys) a lot of times but when we get three going like that, sharing the ball and getting good shots for each other, we're real hard to defend," said Hardy. "You can't leave Nate or Zach because they're going to shoot 60 percent from 3."

Matt Montavon scored 17 points for DeKalb, which played without injured starters Marcus Bobo and Nigel Dyson.

"The fact that they (the Saints) can put three or four guys on the floor that can shoot threes makes them hard to defend," said Barbs coach Al Biancalana. "So now what happens is they stretch you out."

Alec Champine, Cody Mitchell, Zac Matheny and Aidan Sullivan each added 4 points for the Saints, who won back-to-back games for the first time in a month.

"We're only in January right now," said Saints coach Patrick Woods. "We always aim to play our best basketball in March. I think we're on the right path.

"We're getting better and that's what it's all about."

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