St. Charles North goes inside, betters Bartlett
Twice during the third quarter against Bartlett Wednesday night, officials made St. Charles North center Kyle King leave the court because of a cut on his elbow.
That was about the only way the 6-foot-5 junior could be slowed.
King scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and was effective at finding open teammates when the Hawks collapsed on him. St. Charles North emerged with a 57-48 victory in the Upstate Eight Conference crossover.
"It was frustrating but I just got back in there and got back in a roll," said King. "We knew they were a little undersized compared to us. We knew the inside/outside game was working. It was working last night too (in a win over Batavia)."
Bartlett (3-5) didn't have the size to match King, and the Hawks also didn't do what coach Jim Wolfsmith was hoping to neutralize him.
"We didn't follow the game plan we laid out to try to slow down King in the post," Wolfsmith said. "We didn't do it. He went and did what he wanted to do."
St. Charles North (6-1) led 12-11 after one quarter. King began to dominate in the second quarter, scoring 8 points.
That included back-to-back baskets down low to close the quarter and give the North Stars a 27-22 halftime advantage.
"Kyle has consistently been a force inside," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "When we have been our best we have played inside-out through Kyle, and we have defended and rebounded."
Poulin wasn't pleased with all 32 minutes of the North Stars' defense against Bartlett, and Ben Tompson came alive during the third quarter with 9 points including a layup off Austin Gates' steal and assist that brought the Hawks within 38-35.
That also was the stretch of the game King left to get the blood cleaned off his elbow and shorts. But the North Stars never let go of the lead, extending it to 41-35 going to fourth quarter on Erik Larson's second straight corner 3.
Reserves Ryan Callaghan and Luke Scheffers scored baskets early in the fourth to help the North Stars build their lead. King capped his big night with three more field goals, two on assists by Anthony Delisi, and the Hawks were not able to get the deficit under seven, making just 3 of 11 shots to finish 15 for 46.
"We didn't shoot very well," Wolfsmith said. "We had opportunities, we had looks, we just didn't knock them down.
"We know how good they are, but we're not giving our best effort. We're not playing with the passion and energy we need to play with. We're a young team and as a young team we think we can just go on the floor with our athletic ability, we're going to knock our shots down, we're going to drive by people. That just doesn't happen at the varsity level."
Tompson led the Hawks with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Ben Fisher, who drew 2 charges, added 9 points.
Larson scored 12 points while Delisi finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for St. Charles North.
The only blemish on the North Stars' record so far is a loss at the buzzer to St. Charles East.
"We're 6-1 on a tough shot, should be 7-0," King said. "We have a good team that has great chemistry. We're all excited."