DeMoss sparks N. Stars
The St. Charles North boys basketball team had to do something.
The North Stars were trailing rival St. Charles East on the Saints' home court at halftime.
Enter Jonathan DeMoss.
The junior lit up the second half with 18 points, including 10 in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 27 points for St. Charles North, which topped the Saints, 75-64, in the cross-town classic Saturday.
"He was very impressive tonight," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said of DeMoss, a 3-year varsity player. "I haven't seen him play better on both ends. He did what we asked and more."
"They kept playing us man-to-man, so I did what I had to do," DeMoss said. "It was fun."
St. Charles East (7-10, 3-4) led by as much as 24-10 in the first half after a pair of Zach Scott free throws with 5:22 left in the first half. The North Stars were able to reduce the lead by single digits and trailed 33-27 at the break.
Just a minute and a half into the third quarter, DeMoss' fun began. With the Saints leading 37-29, DeMoss went on a personal 8-0 run in a span of a minute and a half. His bucket at the 5:01 mark tied the game at 37.
Kevin Senechalle put the Saints back up, but DeMoss tied the game once again at 39.
A Zach Hirsch 3-pointer and a Tim Janeway basket pushed the North Stars to a 44-39 lead, their first of the game. From that point, they never trailed again and ended up outscoring the Saints 21-8 in the third quarter.
"We were really disappointed with our defense in the first half," Poulin said. "We were just letting people hurt us and get by us…we said its all about defense. We said if we get stops in the third quarter, we'll be able to build a lead going into the fourth, and it actually happened that way."
The North Stars got their first double-digit lead of the game after a pair of Nick Neari free throws with 6:23 left in the game. A pair of Marc Stellato's free throws reduced St. Charles North's lead to 62-58 with 1:32 left to play, but that was as close as the Saints came.
"Free throws were big for us, definitely," DeMoss said. "They kept fouling us, and we executed at the free throw line."
"Our kids continued to fight the whole game," St. Charles East coach Brian Clodi said. It was down to 4 and we still felt we had a chance."
DeMoss and Tim Janeway scored the next 5 points, and free throws sealed the deal for the North Stars, who improved to 11-9, 5-2.
In addition to DeMoss, Janeway finished with 10 points and Neari added 13 points, including a 9-for-10 performance at the free throw line.
The Saints were led by Pryor's 17 points and his perfect 11-for-11 free throw shooting to go with his team-high 8 rebounds. Senechalle finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds.