St. Charles North 49, Neuqua Valley 33
We'll start with the good news for Neuqua Valley in Friday's 49-33 girls basketball loss to visiting Upstate Eight Conference rival St. Charles North.
The Wildcats outscored the North Stars reserves 14-5 in the fourth quarter. Also, the Neuqua defense forced 24 St. Charles North turnovers.
However, the North Stars gave the Wildcats a beating holding them to single digits in the first three quarters and leading 44-19 going into that final period.
""We did exactly what we knew we had to do against a good team like Neuqua," said St. Charles North coach Katie Sauber. "We were patient on offense, aggressive on defense and we broke the press. Our goal in every game is also to hold the opposition under 40 points."
Six-foot-four junior center Kelsey Smith led the scoring with 15 points, and she also had 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, but her teammates were just as effective in the early going as St. Charles North (6-2, 2-1) pretty much put the game away in the first half with a 31-13 lead.
"Coach Sauber said this was the first time we've ever beaten Neuqua Valley," said senior guard Nika Sircher. "This was a huge win for us, and it felt great to be a part of it. We were really prepared. We have an opportunity to become something big and it showed."
Sophomore point guard Kiley Hackbarth, who scored 10 was the only other North Star to hit double digits in a balanced attack.
"Kelsey is a great player," Sircher said. "But if she's double- or triple-teamed, we can shoot and we can dish. We have a four-guard lineup and we can play the perimeter. Our transition game and breaking the press were the keys."
The North Stars were also 12 of 13 from the foul line.
Neuqua Valley (5-5, 0-2) struggled against a strong St. Charles North defense as coach Mike Williams shuffled all 14 of his players in and out throughout the game trying to find the right combinations.
"We're a young team and our schedule doesn't allow us to have any breakdowns," Williams said. "Right now we're having a lot of breakdowns. We just have to go through the growing pains and come out of this in time to get it going again."
He pointed to St. Charles North's experience as the big difference in the two teams in Friday's game.
"They're a mature team. The starters all have varsity experience," Williams said. "We're still putting groups together to see what we have to do from this point on."
Viv Kindt led the Wildcats scoring with 7 points. McKenzie Hughes pulled down 6 rebounds and Raquel Davis came up with 4 steals.
The game told Sauber what she already knew about her North Stars.
"They're a tough group," Sauber said. "They work well together and we have great team chemistry. Our goal is to win conference and go as far as we can."