N. Stars outlast Wolves
St. Charles North clawed its way back to .500 Tuesday night, thanks to good passing in transition and Tim Janeway's ability to finish.
Host Prairie Ridge trimmed an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to 35-33 on a pretty back door feed from Bryan Bradshaw to Chad Ljunggren for a layup with 3 minutes remaining in the game.
But Janeway answered with a personal 12-3 run that restored St. Charles North's 11-point lead en route to an eventual 47-43 nonconference boys basketball victory in Crystal Lake.
Janeway scored 14 of his career-high 23 points in the fourth quarter to lift the North Stars (8-8) to their second win over Prairie Ridge (2-15) in two weeks. St. Charles North defeated the Wolves 54-44 at Jacobs on Dec. 26.
"A couple of jumpers and lots of layups," was Janeway's description of his big night. "A lot of great passes from my teammates, which helped in the third and fourth quarter. Everyone was looking up and running the floor."
After Ljunggren's basket pulled the Wolves within 2 points, they fouled Janeway in the act of shooting along the baseline and he sank both free throws.
Following a defensive stop Janeway ended up with the loose ball in his hands and sank a long 2-pointer that put the North Stars ahead 39-33 with 2:09 left.
He was later the recipient on the fast break of 2 passes from Jonathan DeMoss and another from Nick Neari, each of which he converted for points in transition.
"At the end of the game when we had a chance to get back into it, we gave them layups," Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said. "They did a nice job of spreading us and moving the ball and they got the layups. They did what winning teams do."
Said Prairie Ridge senior Bryan McGinn: "We left the back open on our press for a couple of layups in a row and that hurt us in the fourth quarter."
St. Charles North prevailed despite committing 19 turnovers and attempting just 39 shots.
"It was not our best performance, but we walked away with the W," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "I thought we fought hard. (Prairie Ridge) always kind of slows it down. You play in the forties."
McGinn, who posted 7 of his team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter, was Prairie Ridge's only double-digit scorer. The Wolves shot 17 of 51 from the field (33 percent) and turned the ball over 15 times.
"Our problem is we turn the ball over too much and we take poor shots," Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said. "Those two things inhibit you from getting into any type of flow with your offense.
"And St. Charles North is good. They play a good schedule and they're a big team, a big, strong team, which is difficult for us to match up with."