St. Charles East doubles up Elgin
Playing in the early morning game of a holiday basketball tournament certainly has its drawbacks.
Most high school players would prefer a few more hours of rest to waking up early and boarding a bus for a 9 a.m. tipoff.
But when you've lost three consecutive games — the last two of the heartbreaking variety — a few less hours of shut-eye can be an acceptable tradeoff for a victory.
St. Charles East (4-11) snapped its 3-game skid with Thursday morning's 50-25 triumph over Elgin
in the 15th-place game of the annual Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic Tournament at Wheaton North.
“We dug a hole for ourselves and our goal is that we need to start climbing out of it,” said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. “We're a better team than what we've been playing like.”
After suffering tight losses (49-45 to Hinsdale Central on Dec. 21 and 35-34 to Jacobs on Dec. 22) to a pair of winless teams, the Saints didn't want the streak to continue against the Maroons (0-15).
Elgin hung tough early, cutting a 6-point, first-quarter deficit to 14-10 on a basket by Maria
Panthier during the Maroons' opening possession of the second quarter.
However, the Saints answered with an 11-0 surge, fueled by Dani Asquini and Morgan Vyzral, to extend their lead to 25-10 midway through the period.
St. Charles East led 31-15 at halftime and gradually pulled away in the second half. Asquini, still hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tourney, led the Saints with 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Vyzral added 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
“The experience from this tournament is going to help us a lot,” said Asquini. “We needed to get our confidence back up.”
Sophomore guard Carly Pottle (8 points) and junior forward Shannon Pedersen (6 points) combined for 14 of the Saints' 22 bench points.
“We wanted to end (the tournament) on a high note, finish strong and take a step forward,” said Drumtra, whose young team has had to overcome injuries to key players Paige Jordan (hand), Annie Martines (shoulder), RaeAnne Payleitner (shoulder) and Asquini.
“We'll take a little bit of a break and I think everybody could use it,” said Drumtra, whose team will return to action Jan. 8 against Geneva. “When I originally looked at the schedule, I saw this huge gap between this tournament and our next game. It's still not ideal but we need it to get
healthy.”
Elgin, which lost a 56-35 decision to the Saints on Dec. 17, received a double-double from junior center Briana Hamilton, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“It was one of the better defensive games we've had in a while,” said Elgin coach Dr. Nick
Bumbales. “We held them to 50 points. We've been giving up 60 or more points every game. They're baby steps but it was a good way to end up the tournament. The numbers are still good and we're happy with that.”