North Stars take care of business against Larkin
Sometimes a game such as Thursday night's could be a trap game.
A basketball team goes on the road against a struggling team a couple of days before a big matchup against its biggest rival.
St. Charles North wasn't going to get caught.
The North Stars went on a 22-2 run stretching over the first and second quarters en route to a 69-49 rout of Larkin in Elgin.
"I was telling the guys all week that it's one game at a time and let's not look ahead to Saturday," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "This gym, ever since I've known it, is a tough place to play. We had to respect our opponent and give our best effort."
St. Charles North (10-9, 4-2 Upstate Eight) heads into Saturday's game at St. Charles East playing its best basketball of the season. The North Stars have won eight of their last 10 games and took care of the Royals early.
Larkin (1-15, 0-5) held its only lead of the game at 8-7 after consecutive baskets from Terell John with 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter. The North Stars scored the next 6 points -- 4 coming from Jonathan DeMoss, who finished with 13 points, all in the first half. Another basket from John made it a 3-point game, 13-10.
St. Charles North then turned up the pressure and grabbed control. The North Stars scored the final 7 points of the first quarter to take a 20-10 lead. DeMoss and Mike Kastel each scored easy baskets inside in the opening minute of the second as the North Stars increased the lead to 24-10.
Larkin's Deonte McFadden scored with 6:55 remaining in the half to make it a 12-point game. Larkin would not score again until there was a minute left in the quarter when it trailed 35-12 thanks to a 22-2 run by St. Charles North.
The Royals went 3-for-11 from the field and turned the ball over six times in the second quarter.
"Those second-quarter blues really got to us," Royals coach Larry Hight said. "They took it to us. They we're a little more physical."
St. Charles North led 37-17 at halftime and 52-34 after three quarters. Larkin never got closer than 13, 47-34, in the second half.
"We're taking small steps towards improving as a team," Poulin said. "I'm almost saying the same things after most of our wins. We're sharing the ball, playing together on the offensive end. We're playing together and communicating on the defensive end."
Tim Janeway and Zach Hirsch each scored 14 to lead the North Stars. Kastel scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds off the bench.
McFadden led the Royals with 11 points. Sophomore Ryan Smith, playing his first varsity game, added 9 points, hitting three 3-pointers.