advertisement

McDonald's 4-point play pushes Geneva past St. Charles North

Geneva's Jack McDonald was blanketed for most of Friday's road game by St. Charles North's best defender but he managed to kick off the covers with 2.3 seconds left to notch a thrilling 53-52 win.

McDonald, a 5-foot-11, 155-pound, junior point guard, had been limited to 10 points, five below his average, by 6-foot-3, 185-pound St. Charles North junior Tyler Nubin, who last weekend was offered a football scholarship by Minnesota.

Nevertheless, the ball found its way into McDonald's deft hands after the Vikings inbounded with 17 seconds remaining, trailing 52-49. He was dribbling at the top of the 3-point arc with seven seconds and counting when 6-5 teammate Kross Garth set a screen.

McDonald zigged to his right. Nubin went over the top of the screen and chased after McDonald as he zagged back to his left behind the screen.

Suddenly, the Geneva guard stopped to shoot and Nubin made contact from behind. McDonald drew the foul as he launched a step-back 3-pointer that banked in with 2.3 seconds to play, tying the game 52-52.

"Nubin was all over me all game," McDonald said. "He played great defense. I got that step back. I saw him jump so I sort of went into him. Lucky enough, it went in."

St. Charles North senior Kyle King said the North Stars knew the ball would go to either Mitch Mascari, a 3-point shooter who finished with 11 points, or McDonald. It went to McDonald.

"And, of course, he knocks down a banked three," King said, shaking his head.

"He made a tough shot," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "I thought he created the contact, but that's beside the point. We need to do a better job on the ball screen at the end."

St. Charles North (13-8, 6-3) called timeout but the 85-percent free-throw shooter couldn't be iced. He calmly sank what proved to be the game-winning free throw.

"I just took a few deep breaths, acted like it was practice and knocked it down," McDonald said.

The North Stars nearly won anyway. Junior guard Lucas Heflen inbounded immediately after McDonald's free throw and threw an on-target baseball pass to 6-foot-5 senior Kyle King. He caught the pass in the lane Christian Laettner-style, turned and shot immediately from 10 feet. He drew the front iron. King was able to attempt a tip-in, but the shot rolled off the rim and the Vikings celebrated another last-second victory two weeks removed from a triple-overtime win against St. Charles East.

"They're Warriors," first-year Geneva coach Scott Hennig said of his players. "They battle. Credit to them."

Geneva (16-9, 6-3 Upstate Eight River) rallied from an 8-point, third-quarter deficit. St. Charles North took a 44-36 lead with 1:20 left in the quarter on a bucket from senior forward Cade Callaghan, who scored 7 of his 10 points in that period.

However, the North Stars made only 8 of 15 free throws and they missed a pair of close looks with 1:20 to play that would have extended the lead to five. Instead, Garth scored on the ensuing Geneva possession to make it a 3-point game.

"Missed free throws, missed layups. That's the difference," Poulin said. "Couldn't catch a break on any 50/50 calls that could go either way. You miss layups, you miss free throws - we have to finish teams off. We've been in position to finish teams off and we're not there. That's on coaches. We have to do a better job getting them ready to win down the stretch."

Garth scored 6 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter for Geneva.

King had 14 points and Brendan Dal Degan had 13 points for St. Charles North, which fell into a three-way tie for second place in the UEC River with Geneva and Batavia, three games behind first-place Larkin (17-6, 8-0).

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.