St. Charles East overcomes adversity, tops North Stars
After being held to 16 first-half points, St. Charles East's basketball team rattled off 12 points in the first 2 minutes of the third quarter and fought off a late St. Charles North rally during Friday night's 42-39 DuKane Conference win by the Saints.
An offensive rebound basket by senior guard Jack Borri (game-high 16 points, 7 rebounds) gave the Saints a 42-33 lead with 3:16 remaining.
The North Stars (2-8, 0-4) made things interesting down the stretch, however, scoring 6 straight points to close within 3 on a pair of free throws from junior Jake Furtney (10 points, 10 rebounds) with 31 seconds left.
Misfiring on the front end of a pair of 1-and-1 opportunities, the Saints regained possession thanks to back-to-back offensive rebounds from junior forward Jacob Vrankovich.
"Those were two of the biggest rebounds of the game," said Saints coach Patrick Woods.
Moments later, the Saints' 25th turnover of the game ensued - giving the North Stars a chance to tie.
But junior guard Daniel Connolly's desperation 3-pointer caromed off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
"I still think Connolly should be shooting three free throws at the end of the game," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin. "He got mugged. You can't swallow the whistle there, but we made a million mistakes to put ourselves in a bad spot."
The Saints were happy to depart North's gym with the victory.
"I thought we could have iced it a bit sooner, but we like to make things interesting," said Woods. "I'm happy for this group because they're hard workers and good kids.
"Who doesn't love going to the rival across town and getting a W?"
Drew Clarke added 8 points, while Eddie Herrera had 6 points and 10 rebounds for the Saints.
"It's been a rough week for us," said Woods. "One of our starters, Trent Bush, wasn't here tonight. Steven Call and Bodey McCaslin were also out sick all week, so we are short-handed, but I loved the toughness that we showed tonight."
Borri drained a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minute of the third quarter, while Clarke and Vrankovich added 3-point baskets during the Saints' 12-3 run.
"We knew we didn't play our best in the first half," said Borri. "I don't think we played our best in the second half, either, but to come out strong like that and create separation for the rest of the game was definitely beneficial for us."
"We have to be better to start the third quarter," said Poulin.
Parker Reinke scored a team-high 11 points for the North Stars, who made just 5 of 24 shots from beyond the arc.
"We battled back, but we just didn't play well enough to win," said Poulin.