St. Charles North's best ever season ends too early

It goes without saying your last loss of the season is going to hurt the most.

But you can multiply that hurt by 100 when the loss comes in a game you expect to win.

That's the feeling St. Charles North had after Dundee-Crown's won a 51-49 thriller Friday in the Class 4A Elgin sectional championship game.

The North Stars certainly gave proper respect and credit to the Chargers, who won their first sectional title, and especially Jeff Beck for his game-winning jumper.

At the same time, the North Stars talked honestly about a game - and a sectional championship - they thought they had that slipped away.

A halftime lead they couldn't hold. Not capitalizing on Dundee-Crown missing 8 of 9 free throws midway through the fourth quarter. Foul trouble keeping a couple of their best players on the bench. Not the best shot selection at one end of the court, a few too many second-half defensive breakdowns on the other.

"It's a tough loss," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "We feel like we went out a little bit early. I told the guys in there (the locker room), I was not expecting, at all, one bit, to have to talk about losing this game."

The atmosphere couldn't have been better, with 3,100 crowded into Chesbrough Fieldhouse. It was deafening much of the second half, first when the Chargers tied the game for the first time at 33, then pretty much from there on out - especially on the back-to-back dagger shots, first the 3 from Zach Hirsch to tie the game with 16 seconds left and then Beck's 15-footer.

Credit St. Charles North for getting off an excellent potential game-winning shot after Beck's jumper. How many times when a team has the length of the court to go and just 3.5 seconds left do you wind up seeing them launch a half-court prayer? The North Stars, just like Valparaiso did 11 years ago to win an NCAA Tournament game on Bryce Drew's buzzer-beater, drew up a perfect play. Hirsch threw to DeMoss, who caught the pass and hit David Johnson, whose 3 didn't quite drop.

The first person to console Johnson? That would be Neari, followed by assistant Sean Masoncup.

That was the type of seniors St. Charles North had, led by Neari, DeMoss, Hirsch, Mike Kastel, Jake Juriga and Mike Lefelstein.

"This is a special group of guys," Poulin said. "You won't find a better group of guys. The times off the court you miss. All of them. There's not one guy who is a troublemaker. There's not one guy you have to keep an eye on. You know they are mature and will be successful at everything they are going to do."

They certainly were successful on the court, setting a school record with 22 wins and advancing farther than any team in the postseason.

But they are going to have their share of what-ifs, especially when Tuesday rolls around and Dundee-Crown is heading to Northern Illinois to play Neuqua Valley and not the North Stars.

"I think we thought we had a great chance to win the game," Hirsch said. "In reality it came down to defense and rebounding in the third quarter we had a couple mental lapses and they capitalized. They just played a little better tonight."

For leading scorer Nick Neari, the what-ifs were the three fouls that cost him the final five minutes of the first half, then the two quick fouls with a minute to go that took him off the floor with the game on the line.

"We didn't play real smart especially with foul trouble," Neari said. "Foul trouble, playing off and on, it was just one of those weird games when nothing was really working. Too bad it had to be tonight and not earlier."

For coach Poulin, the what-ifs started with their 18 3-point attempts (making 7) and their defense that after holding Dundee-Crown to 27 percent shooting in the first half allowed Dundee to make 48 percent in the second.

"We fell in love with the 3-point shot," Poulin said. "They went down Tuesday (against Rockford Auburn) and they didn't go today. I felt like we could have got better looks, more high percentage shots. But these are the guys that make them too."

Poulin would have liked sophomore Josh Mikes to get a few more shots after he hit 4 of his 6. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and is the future of the North Star program, along with Johnson and the rest of the juniors and sophomores.

Mikes was quick to thank the seniors for the influence they have had on him.

"These seniors have taught us underclassmen so much," Mikes said. "We're going to miss them. We're family. It's just like seeing an older brother go away to war. We're going to miss them."

That's a feeling these seniors share for each other. The pain of Friday's loss will last for awhile, especially the way the game got away, but not nearly as long as all the records and firsts this group established.

"We've known each other for a long time," Neari said. "It's been fun. It's the most fun I've ever had on the team."

jlemon@dailyherald.com