Stars start fast to sink DVC-leading Falcons
St. Charles North's girls basketball team started fast and finished with a flourish, outscoring Wheaton North 36-15 in the first and fourth quarters during its 58-39 nonconference triumph over the Falcons Tuesday night in St. Charles.
The North Stars (12-5) scored the game's first 11 points, including a 3-pointer from senior guard Anna Conrad to get things started.
"You always want to set the tone for the game early," said 6-foot-4 senior center Kelsey Smith, who tallied 6 of her game-high 20 points during the opening surge. "I thought everyone did a great job pushing the ball up in our fastbreak. That's kind of our game."
The DuPage Valley Conference-leading Falcons (12-6), who had their 5-game winning streak snapped, misfired on 25 of their first 29 field goal attempts and finished just 13 of 54 for the contest.
"We didn't do a very good job of preparing ourselves to come out ready to play," said Falcons coach David Eaton. "When you come out down 11-0, it's tough - especially against a team of this caliber.
"I think we were a little caught up in the hype of the game because we knew this was a big one. We were playing well and obviously they're a great team with Kelsey (Smith) and their point guard (Kiley Hackbarth)."
Despite all of their first-half shooting woes, the Falcons still found themselves in contention, trailing 25-15 at the intermission.
A big reason for that was the North Stars' carelessness with the basketball, which led to 17 first-half turnovers.
"We had a few problems with turnovers, something that we're absolutely working on but we came out strong in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter," said North Stars coach Katie Sauber.
"That has been our downfall but we turned it around and the fourth quarter was our best quarter."
Wheaton North pulled within 7 on two separate occasions in the third quarter, as a 3-pointer from Madison Goudy made it 35-28 and Kat Knoedler's 12-foot jumper narrowed the margin to 37-30.
From there, however, the North Stars went on a 13-4 run that included 3-point plays from Smith and Hackbarth (14 points) as they built their lead back to 50-34 with 5:03 remaining.
"It was nice to pull away," said Smith, who added 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. "We should be doing that."
"They got within seven and we were able to take a deep breath," added Sauber. "We knew what we had to do to take care of the game."
Jenna Bell was the third St. Charles North player to reach double figures, chipping in with 10 points, while Alex Messacar added 5 points and 7 rebounds. The North Stars helped their own cause, making 16 of 20 free throws.
"We've been pretty solid all year," Sauber said. "The other day we were 12 for 14 (against Hinsdale Central). If we could put ourselves on the line even more, that would be great."
Brooke Olson led the Falcons with 11 points.