St. Charles North tops Geneva to stay tied for DuKane lead

Ethan Marlowe is emerging as a game-changer for St. Charles North.

"When (Marlowe) plays confidently and plays hard, he's another starter," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said following the North Stars' 59-46 victory over Geneva on Tuesday.

The North Stars (17-5, 8-1) swept the season series with Geneva and stayed tied with St. Charles East atop the DuKane Conference.

Marlowe, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, has perhaps quietly emerged as an impact player for the North Stars. His first-quarter sequence Tuesday further illustrated why.

Marlowe blocked Geneva forward Josh Preston's shot, then promptly hustled down the court to clean up Luke Scheffers' missed shot for his own putback.

Marlowe scored seven of his 10 points in the second quarter.

"He's kind of our X-factor," Poulin said. "We need more from him. I actually sat him down (Monday) in practice and said just that. 'Now is the time to impact the game even more' and he's looking to do that.

"Anything he gives us, he just makes us that much stronger."

Marlowe has evidently heeded that challenge.

"During the second half of the season, I need to step up even more," Marlowe said. "I played decent at the beginning of the season, but I think I've been going downhill (production-wise).

"(Poulin) talking to me at practice was huge for me, just getting my confidence back up and just knocking shots down and doing everything he needs."

St. Charles North offset Geneva's zone's defense with a successful offensive attack that featured getting it inside to forward Connor Linke and kicking it back out for an open shooter on the wing.

The North Stars took a 33-22 lead into the half and built a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter. North Stars guard Colin Nelson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter.

Marlowe opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, and then Preston responded with a drive and baseline dunk. Linke answered with a dunk of his own to push the North Stars' lead to 16.

Vikings guard Nate Valentine hit a pair of 3-pointers, but Geneva was only able to pull within eight with 3:48 left.

Scheffers had 11 points, while Linke had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Christian Czerniak had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

Geneva (12-10, 3-6) was led by Preston's 18 points and 3 rebounds, while Valentine had 9 points. Drew Johnson had 7 points and Dylan Fuzak 5.

"I told the guys 'I didn't think we played that bad; they're just really good'," Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. "I thought Linke and Scheffers, when it came to the end of the game, showed their experience. Scheffers has been on varsity four years; Linke's a Division I kid."

"I thought Josh Preston was outstanding," Hennig continued. "Valentine, at the end, made some shots. We just couldn't really get over the hump. We had it down to seven or eight [and] Linke hits a tough three ... I'm proud of the guys. I thought they played hard."