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St. Charles North's DeMarco in right spot at right time at Wheaton North

The only thing more frigid than the weather Friday could have been St. Charles North sophomore Nick DeMarco on the basketball court at Wheaton North.

After not playing the first three quarters DeMarco entered with the game on the line.

"I was a little cold," DeMarco said. "I was pretty tight, but I was trying to be as ready as I can."

Instead, the three-sport varsity athlete was cool in a good way. DeMarco's clutch 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining put the North Stars ahead for good in a 46-42 DuKane Conference road victory.

St. Charles North (8-11, 3-5) led 21-4 in the second quarter and 33-21 after three quarters, but the Falcons (13-8, 6-2) nearly recovered with 21 points in the fourth quarter that included four 3s from junior Garrett Horner.

Just after Horner ignited the crowd with a game-tying 3 at 39, DeMarco answered 19 seconds later from the left corner.

"I got a great pass from Lucas Heflen out in the corner and I was just ready to shoot. I had confidence and everything. My teammates pretty much got it done for me," said DeMarco, who also plays football and baseball.

"I'm going to go play college baseball, but for basketball I just have fun with my teammates. I want to play all four years. It's just a really fun time."

Six-foot-nine junior Connor Linke led St. Charles North with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Billy Durocher and Heflen each had 7 points and Luke Scheffers and reserve Colin Nelson 6 points each.

Horner finished with 20 points and six 3s. College recruit Deng Reng had 8 points and 8 rebounds and Jacob Schauer and Ian Jordan each had 5 points.

The Falcons entered the game as DuKane co-leaders with Geneva and beat the North Stars 39-25 Nov. 30 with their lowest offensive output this season.

Since then, the North Stars have progressed from having no returning starters and late arrivals such as DeMarco from the second-place Class 7A football team. The North Starts visit Geneva Tuesday.

"This is a great program (at Wheaton North) and everyone in the world knows it's difficult to win here so we got our guys ready," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said.

"We know we can play with anyone. We've shown it at times. It's the second half of the season. We're still learning but this is a great win. I'm very proud of our guys for remaining tough throughout the game."

Linke followed DeMarco's 3 with a wide-open inbounds layup after a defensive mix-up for a 44-39 lead.

Schauer answered with a 3, but at 45-42, Wheaton North could not hit a game-tying 3 against a double-team. DeMarco was fouled in the battle for the rebound and added a free throw with 2.5 seconds.

"He's the type of kid you can call on him and he's ready to go," Poulin said of DeMarco. "The moment's not bigger than Nick in any of the sports he plays."

The Falcons had 5 of their nine 3s in an outstanding fourth quarter.

However, a 2-point first quarter and nightmarish first half included 3-for-14 shooting with an 0 for 8 start and 10 turnovers on 21 possessions - 7 of them North Stars steals.

"They came out - credit to them - with great intensity and we did not match that at all," Wheaton North coach Dave Brackmann said.

"We fought back to tie it, but the game wasn't lost in crunchtime at the end. It was lost in the first half. You can't fall down 21-4. We didn't play team basketball on offense. We finally started to, but it was too little too late."

The North Stars had other big three-point plays. Nelson delivered his 3 early in the fourth quarter and Heflin converted a conventional three-point play for a 39-30 lead on a possession that consumed 1:33.

Durocher had a third-quarter 3 and primarily defended Deng for an imposing inside presence with Linke.

"When Linke plays that well as a 6-9 kid, he can score, but they run their offense through him and made some great passes. He just draws a lot of attention," Brackmann said.

"This game was a lot different from other previous games. We take an early lead and the other team comes back. We kind of kept our heads in this game and handled their pressure," Linke said.

"We've got a bunch of road games in the conference so we're hoping to carry this win. Hopefully this is the start to the season almost."

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