St. Charles North 53, Burlington Central 51

Jonathan DeMoss received plenty of cheers from the St. Charles North crowd for his team-high 21 points in the North Stars' 53-51 win over Burlington Central Tuesday night.

Mike Kastel drew even more applause when he sank the game-winning free throws with 5.5 seconds left, shots that held up for the win when Mike McCurdy's running 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard and rim.

But none of those players drew the loudest roar on an emotional night in St. Charles.

That went to the St. Charles North drill team, performing at halftime for the first time since Friday's passing of senior drill team member Lauren Laman.

Football coach and public address announcer Mark Gould told the crowd the halftime routine would be "dedicated to a shining Star."

The drill team got a standing ovation before starting and another when they finished a flawless performance, with hugs all around and very few dry eyes anywhere in the gym.

That included the hero on the court, Kastel.

"She was a friend of everybody, she was just a great person," Kastel said. "It was a real emotional night for everyone. What a better way to get a win for the drill team and her family."

St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin got choked up before collecting his thoughts.

"It put a lot of things in perspective for us," Poulin said. "Our heart goes out to that family. It is a tough subject to talk about here…

"We stress to our guys how important each day is and how to take advantage of each day. One of the things we have in our locker room is tomorrow is not promised to anyone… It's just tough."

Kastel's free throws denied Burlington Central (17-6) a second straight win over a St. Charles school after the Rockets upended St. Charles East 65-63 last week.

Burlington almost made it a St. Charles sweep against the North Stars (14-10), who took advantage of their height and the Rockets' early foul trouble to build a 33-23 halftime lead.

At one point in the second quarter, Burlington forward Shane Larkin had 4 fouls and star guard McCurdy 3 -- and both stayed in the game.

That move paid off, as neither wound up fouling out. McCurdy finished with a game-high 25 points.

"It just comes down to take them out and struggle or put them back in and maybe he doesn't get that fourth or fifth foul and we're in the game," Burlington Central coach Chris Payne said.

Jason Wagner, who hit seven 3-pointers and scored 28 points against St. Charles East, didn't score in the first half. He heated up in the third quarter with 9 points as the Rockets cut the North Stars' lead to 43-37 heading to the fourth.

Burlington Central still trailed 49-43 with 3:28 remaining after Mike Lefelstein's 2 free throws. Lefelstein provided the North Stars a spark off the bench with 11 points.

"We knew it was going to be a dogfight to the end," Poulin said. "We did some things that I'm not real happy about as far as taking some ill-advised shots and kind of shot them back into the game. We made it difficult on ourselves but it's also a credit to them."

McCurdy's acrobatic layup brought the Rockets within 50-49 with 1:08 left, then a steal by Jake McNutt led to another quick layup for McCurdy and the Rockets' first lead since the first quarter, 51-50 with 57 seconds to go.

St. Charles North finished with a 31-15 rebounding advantage. The two biggest came in the final 10 seconds, two offensive rebounds that led to Kastel's game-winning free throws.

"We just have to finish and get the rebound," Payne said. "That's something that has hurt as all year and we've just got to get better at it."

DeMoss went to the line trailing 51-50 with 11 seconds left. He hit the first to tie the game, and after the Rockets' final timeout, missed the second.

Tim Janeway grabbed the missed free throw but couldn't convert his putback. Kastel pulled down that miss, got fouled and hit the winning free throws.

"For Mike to knock down those free throws, Mike has come along way since the beginning of the year," Poulin said. "He was somewhat of a question mark (at the line) and he stays in the gym and works on it, asks advice and listens. I'm really proud of him."

And Kastel was just glad to have an opportunity to do something small to help someone besides himself, a common theme by the St. Charles community Tuesday night. That included the Storm youth basketball program donating $100 in Laman's honor instead of taking their normal chance to play during halftime of the varsity game.

"I was thinking about the game, I was thinking about everything on the line," Kastel said, "but at the same time what better way to celebrate her life and give something to her family and the drill team here at the game today. It was a great way to end the night."