South Elgin spoils St. Charles North's Senior Night
After 18 lead changes and 5 ties, South Elgin finally took control down the stretch, outscoring St. Charles North 18-10 over the final 3-plus minutes to pull out a hard-fought 70-64 Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball victory Friday night in St. Charles.
Senior point guard Alex Sanchez fueled the late surge, scoring 10 of his 16 points during the final 3 minutes and 20 seconds as the Storm (17-6, 6-2) extended its winning streak to 7 while spoiling the North Stars' Senior Night.
"Every coach has got to love a guy like that," Storm coach Chaz Taft said of Sanchez. "He handles the ball and he'll knock down big free throws. I want the ball in his hands the last four minutes of the game. He makes great decisions on the fly and he understands the tempo of the game."
Sanchez, whose 3-pointer gave South Elgin the lead for good, 55-54, with 3:20 remaining, connected on 8-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter as the Storm outscored the North Stars (18-7, 7-2).
Having the ball in his hands come crunch time seems to suit the 5-foot-8 Sanchez.
"I like the responsibility," he said. "I like being that guy. Maybe it comes from this being my third year of playing varsity."
After a pair of Nick Neari (27 points) free throws narrowed the North Stars' deficit to 62-60 with 57.8 seconds left, the Storm rattled off 8 unanswered points - all coming at the foul line - to extend their lead to 70-62.
"Whoever came up with the key stops was going to win the game," said Taft, whose team played without 6-9 senior center Daniel Lopez (sprained ligament in his ankle). "Fortunately it was us in that situation. We came down the stretch and made key stops."
Jordan Dobler scored a team-high 23 points for South Elgin while Jeffrey Lewis tallied all 12 of his points in the second half.
"It seemed like I was getting to the lane quicker on my first step," said Dobler. "I was going up stronger and jumping higher."
Dobler also enjoyed the opportunity to play in front of a raucous crowd at St. Charles North.
"That was probably the most fans I've ever played in front of," he said.
St. Charles North, which had its conference title hopes take a serious hit, led only 31-28 at halftime despite a 23-7 rebounding advantage and 20-5 edge in free-throw attempts.
Jonathon DeMoss, playing the final home game of his 4-year varsity career, added 15 points for the North Stars before fouling out with 34.5 seconds remaining.
"South Elgin was the better basketball team tonight," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin, whose team could face South Elgin again at the DeKalb regional. "That's the best team in our regional - you can throw out the seeds.
"I'm just disappointed because I feel like I let our seniors down. But South Elgin really deserved to win the game. They did some of the little things that you need to do."