Striedl powers St. Charles East past Dundee-Crown

After having a physical and talented Neuqua Valley team on the ropes Friday night before finally succumbing, St. Charles East would finally enjoy its first game of the season with a height and weight advantage against visiting Dundee-Crown.

The game plan was simple Saturday night.

"We were going to pound the ball inside tonight to Jess (Striedl)," St. Charles East coach Brian Clodi said.

And considering that Striedl's 220-pound frame represented 45 more pounds than any Dundee-Crown Charger could counter with, it was a pretty solid plan.

The Saints rolled to an 11-3 lead after one quarter, with power forward Striedl causing most of the damage, and rolled to a 51-38 nonconference victory.

Striedl scored 9 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter, flashing in front of the basket off baseline screens and putting Dundee-Crown (1-3) on its heels early.

"It wasn't in the game plan to just give me the ball in the post," said Striedl, who had a game-high 11 rebounds as well. "But once we got in the game, we could kind of feel that if we got the ball inside, we could all make plays out of it."

For Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber, the key postgame word was "resilient." He wants to see his team defined by that term.

"They were a little tougher and that is an area that we need to improve in - our toughness," Huber said. "They took the ball inside and did what they wanted, and we didn't have an answer.

"Until we decide that we are going to be a little more resilient, that's going to happen," Huber said. "We just have to get tougher, there is no other way to say it."

Striedl powered inside for three baskets and then stepped out for a 3-pointer in the first quarter, while the Chargers groped for answers on the other end in hitting only 1 of 11 shots from the floor in the opening frame.

St. Charles East (2-4) played an effective matchup zone to take a 22-13 halftime lead, as Dundee-Crown finished the half with only three baskets on 21 shots from the floor.

"We really like how we are playing and I was very happy with our defense tonight," Clodi said. "We were in that matchup 2-3 and we communicated very well. "We gave up a few too many offensive rebounds, but when we needed stops, we got them," Clodi added. "This team knows that if we are going to win a lot of games, it has to happen at the defensive end."

Clodi was pleased with his entire squad, which has displayed quality depth in every game this season. But he said the team is following the lead of seniors Striedl and Zack Burns (14 points).

"Those two guys played in all 27 games last year, and it is showing this year," Clodi said.

Striedl has been pleased with his overall game, but is more impressed with how the Saints are playing as a team.

"We have a really deep team and that is what is going to make us good, and we work together well as a team," Striedl said.

Dundee-Crown's frustration was highlighted at the 3:18 mark of the third quarter when Ryan Smith endured a flagrant foul from Striedl.

With his team trailing 35-23 at the time, Smith was hoping to swing the momentum in the Chargers' favor. But he missed both free throws, and seconds later the Chargers turned over the ball with the extra possession awarded by the flagrant foul.

Dundee-Crown shot only 31 percent from the floor (12 of 38) and was led by Kevin Cronin with 9 points. Nathan Kirchhoff added 8 and Smith had 7 to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds.

Freshman guard Kendall Stephens led a brigade off the St. Charles East bench with 6 points, helping the Saints shoot nearly 50 percent from the floor (19 of 40).