St. Charles East 40, South Elgin 35

After having a 14-point first-half lead turn into a 1-point deficit in the game's final 2 minutes, St. Charles East's girls basketball team maintained its composure.

The Saints (15-13) went on to score the game's final 6 points, escaping with a 40-35 Class 4A Larkin regional semifinal victory over South Elgin (15-14) Tuesday night.

The Saints will take on rival and top seed St. Charles North (20-5) in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. title game.

"I thought they did a nice job at the end there of holding it together because that's a lot of pressure," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "I was really proud of them."

Leading by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Saints suddenly went cold in the third quarter, misfiring on 10 of 11 field-goal attempts.

Their 27-19 halftime advantage was whittled to just 2 at 31-29 entering the final quarter.

South Elgin took its first lead of the night at 35-34 with 2:24 left on a layup by Courtney Kumerow, who recorded game highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

But the Saints responded, as Jaime Rust split a pair of free throws with 2:05 remaining to tie the score at 35-all.

Tasha Lalos (15 points) then gave the Saints the lead for good with her steal and layup with 1:51 remaining. Another steal, this time by Lexi Baltes (9 points, 7 steals, 5 rebounds), turned into a free throw by Katie King, to make it 38-35 with 51 seconds left.

After the Storm missed what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer with 37 seconds left, Rust sealed the victory with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.

South Elgin coach Tim Prendergast knew what the game's turning point was.

"It all starts with the first quarter," Prendergast said. "We scored two points in the first quarter (falling behind 13-2). We weren't ready to play. "We dug ourselves a hole but to our credit, we came back. I knew we could come back but when you're scratching and clawing the whole way there…

Genevieve Johnson, Alexa Kruel and Dijon Smith each added 5 points for the Storm.

"It's just sad because I want to play St. Charles North Thursday," said Prendergast. "But I'm really upset because the season's over and I'm going to miss going to practice with these girls."

St. Charles North 52, Larkin 37: The Larkin girls basketball team had one of two choices Tuesday night as they trailed top-seeded St. Charles North 17-3 after eight minutes of play in the Larkin regional.

They could go down in flames -- or they could go down in a blaze of glory.

The Royals chose the latter.

Not only did they make it a game, cutting a 24-13 halftime lead to 7 points at 39-32 with 3:34 left to play, but they made sure that St. Charles North kept all of their arsenal on the court to do it.

In the end, the North Stars lived up to their reputation, earning the 52-37 victory to advance to Thursday night's regional final, but not without resistance.

St. Charles North (20-5) came out of the gates prepared to show spectators just how they earned the No. 1 seed in the Hononegah sectional.

After Alyssa Burns (13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) put Larkin up 3-0 from behind the arc, the North Stars followed with a 17-0 first quarter run which they extended to 20-0 as the second quarter got under way.

The presence of 6-foot-4 center Kelsey Smith not only stunted the Royals' offensive plan, but also helped the North Stars bury them early.

Smith recorded 10 of her 13 first-half points in the opening quarter. She finished the game with a double-double leading all scorers with 22 points, while collecting 15 rebounds.

Kiley Hackbarth (16 points, 4 rebounds), Anna Conrad (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals) and Nika Sircher (3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) each did their part in keeping the Royals out of reach.

"All in all, I have nothing to be disappointed about," said North coach Katie Sauber. "I was happy with a lot of aspects of our game tonight.

"Patience was key, and the first quarter was huge. It gave us a nice cushion."

Larkin's big push came in the fourth quarter. Trailing 36-19, Burns and Sophie Sterricker (10 points, 3 rebounds) exchanged turns at the hoop, combining for 11 points to make it a game at 39-32.

External efforts from Jessica Harris (8 points, 9 rebounds) and Laura Kay (5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) led to several offensive opportunities.

"We feel really good about keeping up with the No. 1 seed," said Harris. "Our team did an amazing job these last few games together."

Following the Larkin run, the North Stars spent the remainder at the foul line to pull away for good.

"I'm very proud of my team," said Larkin coach Amy Silverman. "We were right there with them in the end.

"We are not a 6-21 team. We gave them everything we had."

-- Jen LaPorte