St. Charles N. advances to semis defeating Johnburg 56-44
If basketball games were determined solely by style points, St. Charles North's girls team might have been in trouble Saturday night.
But they aren't - and the North Stars (9-2) are still alive in the winners' bracket of the 26th annual Dundee-Crown Charger Classic Tournament after overcoming 26 turnovers during their 56-44 quarterfinal victory over Johnsburg (8-5).
"We had spurts of greatness and we had spurts where we had problems hanging on to that ball," said North Stars coach Katie Sauber.
After Johnsburg narrowed the North Stars' lead to 21-18 in the final minute of the second quarter on a basket by Danielle Slivka (12 points), St. Charles North enjoyed one of those aforementioned "spurts of greatness" just before halftime.
That's when 6-4 senior center Kelsey Smith (17 points, 18 rebounds, 7 blocked shots) converted back-to-back 3-point plays over the final 34.4 seconds of the second quarter to help provide the North Stars with some added breathing room and a 27-18 halftime advantage.
"The good thing is we never lost our lead," said Sauber. "They cut it down a couple times but we persevered and made some good plays when we needed to."
The Skyhawks closed the gap to 27-21 on Krista Volden's 3-pointer in the early stages of the third quarter before the North Stars responded with a 10-0 run, keyed by 3-point baskets of their own from Sydney Russell and Kiley Hackbarth (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) that extended the lead to 37-21.
Johnsburg made another late run that cut the margin to 46-37 with 5:20 remaining, but the North Stars were able to withstand the charge thanks in part to 10-for-13 shooting from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Alex Messacar, who finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Hackbarth converted 4 free throws apiece during the final period.
"Lately we've needed more rebounds, especially offensively," said Messacar. "We talked about it before the game and again at halftime. They're a real good offensive rebounding team so we had to step it up."
Sauber was equally proud of Messacar's tenacity.
"Defensively, Alex has been doing a great job for us," said the coach. "She really has stepped up her game as far as that goes."
Jenna Bell chipped in with 11 points as the North Stars earned a berth in Monday's 8 p.m. semifinals against New Trier (13-1), which defeated Bartlett by the identical 56-44 count in quarterfinal action.
"We're looking forward to it," said Sauber. "It's a great opportunity for us - being in the semifinals.
"New Trier is a good program. We know what we need to do to take care of New Trier. It's just a matter of stepping on to the court and being ready to play."
Sophomore guard Melissa Dixon led Johnsburg with 17 points.