North Stars look to capitalize on favorable draw

If perfect vision counts for anything, perhaps St. Charles North's girls basketball team is onto something.

A year ago, the North Stars established a new single-season victory mark while finishing 23-7 under the direction of first-year head coach Katie Sauber.

Along the way, St. Charles North doubled its previous postseason win total (1) since the school first fielded a varsity girls basketball team seven years ago with its 52-42 regional semifinal triumph over Larkin.

But the North Stars also left some unfinished business.

Playing on their home court, the North Stars suffered a 34-30 loss to Maine West in the Class AA regional championship.

While legendary Warriors coach Derril Kipp celebrated his 23rd regional title, the North Stars were left to wonder what could have been.

"It's going to hurt for a while, especially because a lot of us weren't ready to be done," said then-sophomore center Kelsey Smith after the 2006-07 season-ending loss. "We're young so obviously we're going to have to learn from this."

Tonight, some 366 days later, we'll find out what lessons the North Stars learned as they make their second consecutive regional championship appearance -- this time in the new 4A Class at Larkin High School in Elgin.

Maybe it's fitting their opponent is a familiar one -- cross-town rival St. Charles East (15-13).

Only this time, St. Charles North, which recorded its 20th victory of the season by beating Larkin 52-37 in Tuesday's regional semifinals, resides in the favorite's role.

In addition to having earned the No. 1 regional seeding, the North Stars defeated the Saints 50-27 back on Jan. 19 in their only previous meeting.

St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra doesn't seem to mind her team's underdog status.

"Certainly on paper they look like they should dominate," Drumtra said of the North Stars, "but when it's an East-North game, throw all that other stuff out.

"That's why they play, right?"

Against Larkin, the 6-foot-4 Smith recorded a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while guards Kiley Hackbarth (16) and Anna Conrad (11) combined for another 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists.

"All in all, I have nothing to be disappointed about," Sauber said after Tuesday's first-round win. "I was happy with a lot of aspects of our game."

While it's true that a 1-point win counts the same as a 30-point blowout, I don't think I'm out of line to say that the North Stars weren't at their best Tuesday night.

Larkin, which entered the game with just 6 victories in 26 games, hung tough for 3 ½ quarters, trailing 39-32 with 3:34 left before St. Charles North scored 13 of the game's final 18 points to pull away.

With their entire starting quintet back from last season, the North Stars seem capable of doing some more damage this postseason.

"We are," said Sauber, "and they've got to make sure they believe that and play that way, too. They should be confident -- they've done the work and they have the skills."

Experience certainly helps, as does a beefed-up schedule that included first-time holiday tournament appearances at Whitney Young (against Montini, Whitney Young and 2 out-of-state teams) and Dundee-Crown (against Naperville Central, Johnsburg and Evanston).

Not that they need it, but the North Stars also appear to have caught somewhat of a bracket break from the IHSA.

At Neuqua Valley, Upstate Eight Conference champion Waubonsie Valley (26-2) -- a team that beat St. Charles North 64-46 two weeks ago -- drew the No. 3 seed behind 2005-06 state champion Bolingbrook and top-seeded Hinsdale Central.

At Lake Park, two 20-win squads -- Batavia and Geneva -- were seeded seventh and 10th, respectively, and battled in first-round action Tuesday night.

Now, the winner -- Geneva -- has to take on a 26-5 Schaumburg club Thursday night in Bartlett.

And the Saxons are seeded second behind defending AA state champion Fenwick.

Meanwhile, the Larkin regional winner will be sent out west to Rockton Hononegah along with potential foes Jacobs, Cary-Grove and Rockton Hononegah.

"We're fortunate, for sure," said Smith last week. "It's not to say our regional isn't going to be tough but at the same time we're happy with our regional. To play at a school that's in our conference (Larkin) and so close is nice."

Now they have to take advantage the golden opportunity.