Defensive prowess lifts Wheeling past Stars

Wheeling had a lot going for it Wednesday night as it hosted St. Charles North.

For starters -- literally -- all of the Wildcats starters put 10 or more points on the board.

Defensively, the Wildcats took the North Stars out of their game with blocked shots, rebounds and forced turnovers in a 60-44 boys basketball win for Wheeling.

"One of the things we really made priority No. 1 is defense after our first game," said Wheeling coach Lou Wool. "We've done a real nice job of defense and rebounding."

Al Chery blocked at least 6 shots for the Wildcats to help stifle the North Stars.

"That's what I train to do -- get steals and blocked shots," said Chery. "We played definitely well. Our defense was incredible. We held them to 44 points -- that's pretty good."

Chery also scored 10 points.

"He's a tremendous shot-blocker," Wool said of Chery. "He is such a presence inside that it really alters what other teams are trying to do to us."

Chris McClellan led Wheeling's offense with 13, including three 3-pointers. The senior also hit both of his free throws to improve to 63-for-64 for the season.

Michael Barton added 11, with 7 in the first quarter where the hosts went up 17-8 and never looked back.

"We had really well balanced scoring," Wool said. "We're really dangerous when everybody is involved."

Michael Zimmer and James Kurtz added 10 apiece for the Wildcats while Sayer Johnson pitched in 6 off the bench.

"I'm really happy -- I wanted to fight back to .500 and we did," said Wool, whose team is 4-4. "Right now we're playing our best basketball and we're improving. I feel good about that."

"We played well," added Chery. "Hopefully, we'll be ready for Friday night's (Mid-Suburban East game against) Rolling Meadows."

The North Stars (2-5) fought hard and put together an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 28-20 at the half.

"The kids didn't quit," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin. "They kept battling. They got down big early and got back to 8 at half. We got better tonight -- mentally and physically. We'll keep plugging away and be (more) competitive when its all said and done."

Tim Janeway led St. Charles North with 11. Zach Hirsch (9), Jonathan DeMoss (8) and Danny Jimenez (6) also played solid games.

But the Wheeling defense kept too much from happening.

"It was a physical ballgame, it was tough," Poulin said. "In the lane, it was not for kids. (Wheeling was) allowed to do some things inside. We were forced to play their style of game -- which usually leads to a loss."

The North Stars' other downfall came at the free-throw line, where they managed just 1-of-10 shots.

"We've been up and down," Poulin said of his team's free-throw shooting. "That doesn't help you out. It makes the game a little easier when you knock those down."