St. Charles North continues late-season surge, beats Huntley

St. Charles North entered this week's St. Charles East Class 4A regional basketball tournament with a losing record and plenty of doubt cast on its postseason chances.

Three wins later, the North Stars (14-17) still possess a losing record but no one cares about that following their 48-39 regional championship victory over Huntley Friday night in St. Charles.

The only thing that matters is the fact they're playing meaningful games in March, including capturing their first regional title since 2009.

"It's just an amazing feeling," said senior guard Tyler Czerniak, who scored 10 points and added 4 assists. "People doubted us all year. To be a team under .500 and win the regional - we believed."

After the first 5 ½ minutes, that belief seemed a bit improbable as the Red Raiders jumped out to a 10-2 lead on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers by senior sixth man Nathan Draper.

"We needed to regroup," said Czerniak.

The North Stars did just that, clawing back to within 12-9 after the first quarter before opening the second quarter on a 14-0 run, fueled by torrid 3-point shooting.

Senior guard Lucas Heflen, who finished with a team-leading 12 points and 7 rebounds, began the flurry by banking in a 3-pointer to give the North Stars a 14-12 lead.

On their next possession, Heflen knocked down another 3-pointer from the corner.

Junior guard Colin Nelson added a 3-pointer and Heflen connected on his third 3-pointer of the quarter as the North Stars grabbed a 23-12 advantage with 3:27 left in the second quarter.

"Some guys hit some big shots," said North Stars 6-foot-9 junior center Connor Linke. "I was looking to kick it out to the shooters and they were knocking them down."

Outscoring Huntley 19-2 in the second quarter, St. Charles North built a 28-14 halftime lead.

"That spurt was too hard to recover from," said Huntley coach Will Benson. "We didn't make enough shots in that stretch."

North Stars coach Tom Poulin enjoyed watching his team's inside-out approach during the decisive second-quarter surge.

"Everyone is concerned about Connor (Linke)," said Poulin. "He's unselfish. When he catches the kicks it out like that - I love seeing that because it epitomizes a team basketball player and we repay him by knocking them down."

Back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Davis Pasco (13 points) provided the Red Raiders with a spark as they cut the deficit to 31-23 midway through the third quarter.

However, junior guard Luke Scheffers (11 points) canned a 15-foot jumper to help stem the tide as the North Stars led 37-26 after 3 quarters.

Linke, who finished with 7 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, enjoyed a highlight-reel, 1-minute stretch midway through the final period where he blocked 4 shots as the North Stars maintained their double-digit lead.

"He's the eraser," said Czerniak. "I'm so grateful to have him as our center."

St. Charles North advances to Tuesday's 7 p.m. sectional semifinals against top-seeded Rockford East (31-2) at Rock Valley College.

"These guys have faced so many bumps in the road," said Poulin. "Now they can all themselves champions."

Junior Uchenna Egekeze led Huntley (18-15) with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

"We tripled our win total from last year," said Benson. "It was a fun group to be around."