Neari makes difference for St. Charles North
Court awareness. Unselfish play. Balanced scoring.
These are reasons why St. Charles North is in the thick of the Upstate Eight Conference race - and they were on display Saturday against Waubonsie Valley.
Behind sophomore forward Josh Mikes' season-high 21 points and senior point guard Nick Neari's 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, the host North Stars won their ninth straight game, 64-50.
Neari made 12 of 12 fourth-quarter free throws, an area St. Charles North (16-5, 7-1) dominated. The North Stars outscored Waubonsie Valley 27-9 at the line.
Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer was effusive in praise of "definite first-team all-conference guard" Neari.
"I was really impressed with his game tonight on both standpoints, offensively and defensively," Weemer said. "He took control of the game. He was the difference in the game tonight by a landslide."
St. Charles North got a Mikes dunk off the opening tip and never trailed. Mike Kastel redirected 5 of his 6 blocked shots in the first quarter - but while Waubonsie Valley (10-10, 3-3) shot 6 of 29 in a first half it trailed 29-18, the Warriors were never out of it.
On 2 baskets by Mikes, who was 8 of 8 from the floor, St. Charles North led 33-20 early in the third quarter when Waubonsie made a run. Two Johnny Strauss 3-pointers got it rolling, and 2 Tyler Castro free throws at the end of the third quarter cut St. Charles North's lead to 40-36.
Waubonsie center Roy McElroy scored on a putback and made a free throw to pull Waubonsie within 41-39 with 6:35 left to play.
And along came Neari. He drove into the lane and flung a pass to Zach Hirsch in the left corner. The 6-foot-4 senior buried a 3-pointer that started a 7-0 North Stars run.
"Throws a skip pass over the top, bam," Weemer exclaimed.
"We were confident we were going to be able to score, just take what they give us and take care of the basketball," said St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin. "It was more about the defense and the rebounding to get that lead back up."
Mikes added the North Stars' only other field goal in the quarter, but 19-of-24 foul shooting put it away. The closest Waubonsie drew down the stretch was 53-46 at 3:13 left on an inside basket by Castro, who scored 9 points. Jelani Johnson and Strauss each had 11.
"We hit shots, we played hard," Strauss said. "We passed the ball well, we moved it well. Then we just folded, I guess. It's been happening a lot lately."
St. Charles North 64, Waubonsie valley 50
Waubonsie Valley - Strauss 3 2-2 11, Strickland 2 2-4 7, Je. Johnson 5 0-0 11, R. McElroy 3 1-4 7, Savoy 0 1-2 1, Szott 1 0-0 2, T. Perkins 1 0-0 2, D. Perkins 0 0-0 0, Ja. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lippman 0 0-0 0, Castro 3 3-7 9, Crayton 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 9-19 50.
St. Charles North - Neari 3 14-16 20, DeMoss 2 2-3 6, Mikes 8 5-8 21, Kastel 0 4-6 4, Hirsch 3 0-0 8, Hedges 0 0-0 0, Lefelstein 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Battle 0 2-4 2, Blakeley 0 0-0 0, Juriga 0 0-0 0, Bernthal 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 27-37 64.
Waubonsie Valley 9 9 18 14 -50
St. Charles North 12 17 11 24 -64
3-point baskets: WV: Strauss 3, Strickland, Je. Johnson. SCN: Hirsch 2, Johnson.