St. Charles East tops Larkin in overtime
Struggling offensively while battling a rash of turnovers during regulation play, St. Charles East's basketball team regrouped when it mattered most Friday night.
After falling behind 46-44 in the opening seconds of the 4-minute overtime period, the Saints (8-10, 2-4) scored 9 unanswered points and went on to a 60-52 Upstate Eight Conference victory over Larkin (7-12, 1-5) in St. Charles.
Senior power forward Jess Striedl's putback with 2:45 remaining in the extra session put the Saints on top to stay at 48-46, and Drew Vazquez (11 points) canned a coldblooded 3-pointer a few moments later to help extend the lead to 51-46.
The Saints, who didn't attempt a free throw during the first 32 minutes, connected on 7-of-9 from the foul line and hit 4 of their 5 field-goal tries in overtime.
More importantly, they took better care of the basketball, committing just 1 turnover while outscoring the Royals 16-8.
"That's how we've got to play," said Saints coach Brian Clodi. "With the game on the line we were able to finish out the game."
"We came out in overtime and we just said, 'we're not losing on our home court,'" said Striedl, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Saints, who have now won 4 of their last 5. "(Us) seniors only have a couple more games on this floor so we wanted to go out there and give it all we had.
"We needed this win bad. It's a possible regional opponent and a confidence booster as well. We're 8-10 now which is way better than we were last year. After losing to (St. Charles) North, it was nice for the team to get a victory."
The Saints also received big contributions from Zack Burns (9 points, 4 assists, 4 steals) and senior reserve guard Colton Kumerow (8 points), who canned a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter - including a game-tying long-distance shot from the top of the key with 2:30 left in regulation.
"I've been battling injuries all year," said Kumerow. "I broke my leg this summer (auto accident) and that set me back. It just felt good to get in there, score a bunch of points and contribute."
"Colton played a great game," said Clodi. "It was a great team effort. We're really excited to come out with a win."
Jermaine Clements and Ryan Smith finished with 15 points each for the Royals, who suffered their ninth straight loss.
Larkin, which led 25-22 at halftime, scored the first 6 points of the second half to build a 31-22 advantage - its biggest of the night. But 6 third-quarter turnovers helped enable the Saints to finish the period on a 12-3 run and tie the game at 34-34 heading into the final period.
"In the third (quarter), it was taking care of the ball for that stretch that hurt us," said Larkin coach Deryn Carter. "We had three or four turnovers that turned into three of four layups. You can't afford those types of turnovers."
The Royals have now lost 27 consecutive games in January dating back to 2006.
"It's real tough," admitted Carter. "We've got a lot of seniors. The challenge for them is to keep fighting and keep trying to get better."