St. Charles North shakes off ice cold half
North Stars coach Colleen Brennan hadn't seen it since her days as a freshman B coach. Saints coach Lori Drumtra wasn't sure she had ever seen it. North Stars senior Dana Sibley just shook her head.
They were all looking at the same thing - a 7-6 score after the first half ended Saturday at St. Charles East.
The North Stars were able to find that offense in the second half, mostly by scraping its 3-point shooting and going inside to Jenna Bell, for a 33-21 victory.
"I looked at it (the halftime score) and I was like, 'What's going on?'" Sibley said. "I knew we weren't hitting our shots and that was our biggest thing. In the second half we got more in our comfort zone, running the ball a little bit and we got to play our game more."
The North Stars led 4-3 after the first quarter, then the Saints won the second quarter 4-2 for the 7-6 halftime lead. The teams combined to shoot 5 of 51 (9 percent) in the first half.
"I think we were frustrated, our shots weren't falling," North Stars point guard Kiley Hackbarth said. "We really picked up our defense. That was something we stressed beforehand."
St. Charles North (15-7, 5-3) handed the Saints (12-9, 6-1) their first Upstate Eight loss. St. Charles East probably figured holding the North Stars to 33 points would keep them perfect in the UEC, but they also had no idea they would shoot just 15.6 percent (8 of 51) from the field.
"I couldn't imagine a more frustrating game," Drumtra said. "We were cold. We struggled offensively and give them credit defensively."
Officials let play go on both sides, with the Saints only getting to the line 4 times. Normally that is one of their leading scorer Lexi Baltes' strengths, but she found herself hounded once again by Hackbarth.
The two seniors have known each other for years, well before the last four when they have battled on the varsity level. Baltes enjoyed how last season ended, a Saints regional upset over the North Stars, but Saturday it was Hackbarth with 12 points of her own while holding Baltes to 7 that helped make the difference.
"I love it, I always look forward to good competition," Hackbarth said. "I love playing players who are fast, quick and can play basketball. Lexi is a phenomenal player. I've been looking forward to it all week."
The North Stars missed all 21 of their 3-point attempts in the game. Seventeen of those came in the first half; in the second half St. Charles North did a much better job getting the ball inside.
Hackbarth began the third quarter with a layup. Baltes posted up and scored to give the Saints their last lead at 9-8 before Sibley connected twice to start a 9-0 run that at this pace felt like 90-0.
The North Stars led 19-11 after three quarters. Baltes and Jaimie Rust made the only two 3-pointers of the game to bring the Saints within 21-17 only to watch their offense go cold one more time with 4 points over the final 6:25.
"I think our defense won that basketball game," said Brennan, who picked up the win in her first North Star-Saints game. "Our defense created opportunities for us. Our composure on that basketball court was unbelievable. We didn't get down. We just played through it. I couldn't be more pleased and more happy for them."
Bell's game-high 13 points included 7 of 8 free throws. Sibley led the North Stars with 13 rebounds, while Kala Sigona pulled down 9 rebounds and blocked 3 shots for the Saints.
"I'm not surprised, East-North, that's the kind of game it is," said Baltes, who with 993 career points will go for 1,000 Tuesday against Oswego. "A defensive battle, you grind it out. It was like there was a lid on the basket. There was not much we could do about it."