St. Charles North overcomes sluggish start, beats Jacobs
Tough game Friday night or not, St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin wanted no excuses for his team's energy level at Batavia's Night of Hoops.
St. Charles North and Jacobs made their debuts at the 17th annual event Saturday, and listening to the two coaches talk afterward you'd have a hard time figuring out who won.
The North Stars did win, outscoring the Eagles 9-1 to end the game on top 61-53 after Jacobs forged a 52-52 tie midway through the fourth quarter.
"Batavia Night of Hoops ought to get you pumped up no matter what happened the night before," Poulin said. "We need to figure out why that is.
"I thought we were kind of going through the motions a little bit the majority of the game. In spurts we played with a little ore energy and that was the difference in the game."
Jacobs (3-17) lost its eighth straight game, yet had plenty to like about the way it pushed the taller North Stars (15-10).
"I thought it was as well as we played for a long, long time," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said. "We've gone through a lot of different lineups, a lot of different looks. We kept our intensity high. We were definitely outmanned and I thought we did a pretty good job. We held our own on the boards."
Mike Peterson's drive gave Jacobs a 30-29 lead midway through the third quarter, the Eagles' first lead since Peterson started the game with 2 free throws.
That basket set up a back-and-forth 8-minute stretch that included 10 lead changes and 4 ties, the final one coming on Schmidt's acrobatic tip-in with 4:18 left that made it a 52-52 game.
The North Stars responded by getting the ball inside, first a Josh Mikes pass to Ryan Brown for a 54-52 lead, then Mikes scored on a stickback for a two-possession lead with 1:43 remaining. Jacobs didn't make a field goal over the final four minutes.
"Good things happen when you get in the post," the 6-foot-7 Brown said. "They start collapsing and you can kick out for an open 3s. Everything just works better."
Schmidt scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Eagles. Peterson added 11 points and Sean Meyer 9 points and 10 rebounds.
Both teams shot well from the line - Jacobs 10 of 11 and St. Charles North 20 of 26. The Eagles couldn't overcome the cold stretch from the field late in the fourth quarter.
"A little defense, a little tightness, whatever it was we just couldn't put the ball in the basket," Hinkle said. "Overall I was happy with the performance, just not happy with the results."
Mikes, who missed Friday's win over Waubonsie Valley with lower back pain, led the North Stars with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson scored all 11 of his points in the first half. Nelson added 10 points and Beau Blakeley and Chris Conrad both scored 8.
"I was confident we were going to win," Poulin said. "We just needed to get post touches. Good things happen when the ball goes inside first. We ended up with open looks for the perimeter, we ended up with layups, we ended up with free throws. It turned into anyone-can-win-it into a two-possession lead after a couple post touches."
Both teams return to Night of Hoops next year. Jacobs will play West Aurora and St. Charles North meets St. Joseph.