St. Charles North stays hot, stymies South Elgin

It took South Elgin's basketball team nearly 4 minutes to make its first basket Saturday night.

That turned out to be a sign of things to come, as St. Charles North held the Storm to just 9 made field goals during its 45-27 nonconference victory in St. Charles.

"People are having a hard time scoring points on us," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin, whose team improved to 6-1. "Defensively, I thought we were really good tonight."

St. Charles North, which has allowed an average of 43 points in its 6 victories, clamped down on the Storm (3-3) offense throughout, especially in the second quarter.

While forcing 9 turnovers, the North Stars outscored the Storm 12-5 in the second quarter while building a 19-9 halftime advantage.

Midway through the quarter, a crucial 2-minute stretch included a pair of steals and layups by senior guard Luke Scheffers (10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and a steal and layup from junior guard Nick DeMarco (5 points).

"That could be due to the scouting we did, knowing a couple of their offensive sets," said Scheffers. "Making sure we're in the right positions. We were just focused on our defense."

"Any little stretch in a game like this where you can separate yourself changes things," said Poulin.

The Storm closed the deficit to 22-16 on Kendis Wiley's putback with 2:23 left in the third quarter.

However, the North Stars ended the quarter with an 8-3 run, extending their lead to 30-19 on 3-pointers from Christian Czerniak and Max Love (9 points) before outscoring South Elgin 15-8 in the final period.

"I still felt we were in the game in the third quarter but they hit their open threes," said Storm coach Brett Johnson. "The effort was there on the defensive end - we just didn't get stops consistently enough."

Bradley-bound center Connor Linke added 8 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for the North Stars.

Lane McVicar led South Elgin with 9 points.