Saints make furious rally only to fall in OT
St. Charles East made up an 11-point deficit in the final 1:12 of regulation before Wheaton Warrenville South outscored the Saints 6-0 in overtime for a 42-36 victory at the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament.
"In our game against Lane Tech, the same thing happened," said Wheaton Warrenville South senior guard Madeline Close, who scored the Tigers' first 3 points in overtime. "We had a big lead, let it get away from us and then came back and won. We've kind of gotten in that habit and we've got to learn to keep our cool in the final two minutes."
Sarah Langlas kept her cool throughout as the senior struck for a game-high 21 points, including a free throw in the overtime for the Tigers (2-2).
Taylor Nieling's only 2 points came in the overtime on a pair of free throws.
"I don't think we were nervous going into overtime," added Close, whose steal with six seconds left sealed the win. "We knew we just had to stay focused and we did a great job of keeping each other focused.
"I missed a free throw at the end of regulation that could have made the difference. I could not have done what I did without my teammates."
Lexi Baltes led St. Charles East (1-3) with 10 points while Tara Sigona added 8 and Natasha Lalos 6.
"I though Tara did a nice job going to the basket in the third quarter," said St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra. "We just had too many turnovers in overtime. I wish we could've kept things going like they were at the end of regulation. But we're young and our youth showed up."
Lalos hit two 3-pointers and Baltes had 1 during the 11-0 run that ended the game.
"Natasha struggled all night with her shots but then hit the two big 3s which was nice," Drumtra said.
Wheaton Warrenville South also received 7 points from freshman Hannah Credille.
"We did some good things," said Tigers' coach Rob Kroehnke. "We've just got to be more consistent."
Woodstock 46, Burlington Central 41: Melanie Laird scored 13 points and Jordan Maisto added 10 but the Rockets (3-2) fell to Woodstock at the BC tournament.
Cory Bazany added 9 points for Central while Molly Whiting had a game-high 25 points for Woodstock.
Boys basketball
Marmion 75, Walther Lutheran 68: The Cadets won their second straight at the Marmion Tournament. Sean Fichtel led all scorers with 29 points. Chris Thompson scored 24 for the Broncos.
Aurora Central Catholic 57, Yorkville 45: The Chargers won their second straight game in the Sandwich Tournament as they topped the Reapers. Mark Adams led the victors with 15 points and Mike Adams added 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Rolling Meadows 65, South Elgin 57:ŒAll that was missing were the shoulder pads and helmets.
In a game bogged down by 49 personal fouls, two technical fouls and 70 free throw attempts, Rolling Meadows fought its way past South Elgin on Tuesday, 65-57 at Fenton's 22nd Annual Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament.
"It was a physical game both ways," said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "We have to get the football out of some our football guys. It's better to be too physical than not physical enough."
That definitely wasn't a problem for the Mustangs (2-0). From opening tip to the final buzzer, the constant wave of players (11 saw action in the first half) hounded the Storm from baseline to baseline, challenging every pass, every dribble and every shot.
"It's great because we play up-tempo defense and we can keep bringing in guys off the bench and not lose much," said Meadows senior Ben Sabal, who scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
The Mustangs (2-0), sparked by the tireless efforts of Ty Kirk (12 points), Kevin Serna, Kyle Gaedele and the rest, forced 18 turnovers to increase their two-game total this season to 51.
"Coach (Chaz Taft) prepared us for a physical game -- we practiced hard for it," said South Elgin junior Jordan Dobler.
And those efforts showed, as the Mustangs coughed it up 16 times.
"We didn't take care of the ball good enough and our guys are disappointed," Katovich said. "But a lot of that has to go to South Elgin. They did a nice job defensively."
Considering the in-your-face defense they faced for 32 minutes, the Storm (1-1) also fared reasonably well on the offensive end. Especially with junior Alex Sanchez, who led the Storm with 12 points against Glenbrook South on Monday, left to watch from the sideline after spraining his left ankle in the second quarter.
Down 49-33 with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter, South Elgin rallied with a 14-6 spurt, opened by a 3-pointer from Josh Glenn (9 points) and capped by a three-point play from senior Adam Hodge (team-high 13 points).
Six-foot-nine center Dan Lopez added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Dobler scored eight of his 10 in the second half.
"They're a tough team, a scrappy team," Gaedele said.
A perfect description of his own team.
"Going against each other in practice every day, maybe we're going a bit too physical than we should be," said Sabal, who hit 9-of-10 from the foul line. "But we fouled a lot, they fouled a lot, it was a pretty physical game."
-- Matt Beardmore
Payne makes Schaumburg debut:ŒBrandon Bolger and Cully Payne haven't needed much time to become best friends.
So close, in fact, that Schaumburg boys basketball coach Bob Williams joked they're joined at the hip.
And Bolger smiled and said he's OK with the fact that his sister Heather has been dating Payne for three months.
"He wants to be basically like everyone else," Bolger said Tuesday night.
Payne fit in nicely in that regard in his Saxons debut at the Rockford Boylan tournament. Bolger and Payne were also joined closely in the scoring column -- with 13 and 12 points respectively -- in a 72-38 romp over Rockford East.
Some people may have expected Payne to fire in 30 points or fog up a ton of shots -- he was 4-for-12 from the field -- to prove a point after his transfer late this summer from Burlington Central.
But watching the final minutes from the bench with a wide smile was the point Payne wanted to make clear.
"It just took a while to get in a little rhythm," Payne said of missing his first 4 shots before getting his first points on a rebound and coast-to-coast drive 5:24 before halftime. "The big thing is people will think, 'He doesn't have a lot of points.'
"I don't care if I have 2 points and 30 assists or 30 points and 2 assists as long as we win. I'll do whatever I have to do to help us win."
Which is expected in a program where 21 wins has been the average the last 14 years.
"He's going to make us a lot better," Bolger said. "As a point guard he shows leadership and he's making decisions that make us better."
And that's why Williams knows Payne will get better and better as he blends in with a lot of other guys getting used to bigger roles.
"He's been better in practice than he was today," Williams said. "He's still an excellent leader for us and he takes care of the basketball. He does so many intangible things."
And they figure to eventually make the Saxons much crisper offensively.
The Saxons turned to a familiar staple to break open a 29-23 game at halftime. Bolger, Perrish Bell, Sean Everitt, Dan Slowik and George Kalousek helped turn up the heat and force 12 of Rockford East's 35 turnovers in a 19-4 tear.
"The second half we picked it up and brought it to them," Bolger said of the E-Rabs going 3:43 before getting their first shot after intermission. "We put the pressure to them until they couldn't handle it anymore. That's what got us to score more -- our defense."
Mick Trimarco, who took last year off to concentrate on football, showed he'll be able to help. His defense and aggressiveness led to 8 points and 7 rebounds as all 13 Saxons who played scored.
And they're still waiting to get 6-foot-5 junior Blake Mueller, their leading returning scorer, back from injury.
"I think we're actually pretty close right now," Bolger said of the Saxons getting to where they need to be in terms of execution.
It looks like they're already there in another critical area.
"I like it at Schaumburg a lot," Payne said. "It's a big school with great kids there and the basketball kids have been great."
-- Marty Maciaszek
Hockey
Geneva sweeps weekend: Geneva improved its record to 10-2-5 (6-2-4 League) with a pair of Metro West Hockey League victories last weekend.
On Saturday, Geneva defeated Naperville Central 6-1. Brian Cornick scored 4 goals and Mike Leskun scored twice. Vikings goalie Jon Smarsh stopped 22 Redhawk shots.
Geneva then faced Lincolnway East on Sunday. Cornick continued his streak with a first period power play goal. Defenseman Trent James drove a slapshot home for a 2-0 lead.
In the second period, fellow blueliners Taylor Clark scored once and Mike Boyle scored twice.
The Griffins cut the lead to 5-2 with a pair of early third period goals, but Will Sterne finished off the Geneva scoring for a 6-2 Viking final victory.
Brendon Mayes stopped 18 shots for Geneva.
Men's basketball
North Central 78, Aurora 70: North Central outscored the Spartans 42-29 in the second half as they improved to 3-0, while Aurora dropped to 1-2.
Jarrett Starwood led all scorers with 23 points and dished out 7 assists. Larry Welton had 8 rebounds and 18 points while Doug Lambert added 20 points.
Matt Rogers scored 19 for North Central and Chris Drennan contributed 18 points.