St. Charles North off and running in win over Elgin

On the last school day before a 17-day holiday break, St. Charles North's Kiley Hackbarth was admittedly pumped up prior to Thursday night's girls basketball game against Elgin.

The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard ignited her team early, scoring 7 of her game-high 13 points in the opening quarter as the North Stars built a 19-2 advantage.

From there, the North Stars (8-2, 4-0) extended their halftime lead to 33-6 and eventually cruised to a 73-17 Upstate Eight Conference victory over the visiting Maroons (0-12, 0-4).

"I thought our adrenaline really was going," said Hackbarth. "We did really well tonight."

That may have been the understatement of the night, as the North Stars scored the game's first 17 points and led 9-0 before the Maroons attempted a shot.

Senior guard Nika Sircher collected 5 of her season-high 9 steals in the first quarter, while the North Stars forced 12 turnovers and had 11 steals in the first 8 minutes of play.

"They're always in the passing lanes," Elgin coach Angie Hudson said of the North Stars. "They did a great job of creating turnovers (35)."

Midway through the second quarter, St. Charles North led 26-2. Anna Conrad's (10 points) 3-pointer fueled a 9-0 surge in the early stages of the third quarter to make it 42-6, allowing North Stars coach Katie Sauber to rest her five starters.

Junior center Kelsey Smith was the third North Star to reach double figures with 11 points.

"Three-quarters of our drills this week in practice were defensive drills -- mainly on-the-ball drills," said Sauber. "The girls did a nice job with that (tonight)."

By game's end, 13 of the North Stars' 16 players dressed got their names in the scoring column. Alex Messacar led the reserves with 7 points, while Emily Papke and Brandy Giannini each added 6.

"We were able to get all 16 (girls) in," said Sauber. "Whenever we can do that, it's a good game."

Now, the North Stars will prepare for their first holiday tournament trip to Dundee-Crown.

"We've got Naperville Central (4 p.m. Dec. 26) first so the next three practices are going to be pretty intense," said Sauber.

Giselle Bruskewitz scored 5 points for Elgin, which played its first game this season without the services of junior center Ellen Holton (reconstructive jaw surgery).

"The games will go on and we'll have to find a way to play without her," said Hudson.