Saints shut down Neuqua

It was a game filled with oddities.

How else can you explain the fact that one team made as many free throws (15) as the two teams combined for baskets?

When's the last time you watched an entire fourth quarter without seeing a single basket?

Or saw a team make more 3-point baskets (5) than conventional 2-pointers (4)?

Those were just a few of the strange statistics to come out of St. Charles East's 39-20 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory over visiting Neuqua Valley (5-3, 0-1) Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Saints improved to 3-4 overall, 1-0 in UEC play.

"I think the big key was the fact that they couldn't solve the 1-3-1," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "You could see that they were getting quite frustrated."

That's an easy thing to do when you shoot just 15 percent from the field, commit 19 turnovers and fail to score a single point in the fourth quarter.

"It's one of those days," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams. "I think some of it has to do with confidence. When you miss a lot of shots -- not three or four, but 10 to 15 easy bunnies -- that's a whole different ballgame."

After the teams played to an 8-8 standoff in the opening quarter, the Saints outscored Neuqua Valley 10-3 in the second period to take an 18-11 halftime lead.

Three of the Saints' 5 first-half baskets came beyond the 3-point arc, as junior guard Tasha Lalos canned a pair of 3-pointers while Jaime Rust added another.

"What I was really pleased with was how patient we were," Drumtra said. "We didn't panic. That's just a killer when you keep them on defense for 30 seconds or more and then hit a 3-pointer."

Neuqua Valley scored the first 5 points of the second half, pulling within a basket on Raquel Davis' 3-pointer in the opening minutes.

But the Saints retaliated with 3-point baskets of their own from Lexi Baltes, Katie King and Lalos to take a 29-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

Lalos connected on 4 of 5 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc, while scoring a game-high 12 points.

"She never does," Drumtra said of forcing up bad shots. "Her points are quiet. I looked up and saw that she had 12 points and I was like, 'Wow, those were 12 quiet points.' "

Lalos doesn't shoot until she feels comfortable.

"It has to feel right with how I'm set up, how my feet are set and where I get the pass," Lalos said. "My teammates did a real good job of passing the ball where I needed it and when I was open and ready for it."

Kara Schnier added 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals, while Rust had 5 points and 9 rebounds for the Saints, who outscored the Wildcats 10-0 in the fourth quarter -- with all the points coming at the free-throw line.

Katie Medvec led Neuqua Valley with 5 points.