St. Charles N. drops opener to Hales
While facing a state-ranked opponent that won 29 of 32 games and finished third in Class 2A a year ago, the last thing St. Charles North's basketball team wanted was a slow start Monday night.
But that's exactly what happened as the North Stars fell behind 8-0 after getting three of their first four shot attempts blocked during the first couple minutes and trailed 14-4 after one quarter.
After regrouping and outscoring the Spartans 32-30 over the middle two quarters, the North Stars whittled what was a 15-point deficit midway through the third period to 44-38 on Kyle Nelson's left-handed layup with 7:30 remaining.
But that was as close as the North Stars (0-1) would get as another 8-0 spurt enabled Hales Franciscan (1-0) to pull away to a 63-52 victory during the opening day of the 52nd annual St. Charles East/Ron Johnson Thanksgiving Tournament.
“We had to come in here ready to play and give it our all,” said senior forward Josh Mikes, who scored a game-high 19 points with 10 rebounds and a pair of steals. “I think we did that for the most part other than the first couple minutes. But we hung around.”
The North Stars might have done more than just hang around if they had shot better than 55 percent (17-for-31) from the free-throw line.
“If we could keep the ball out of the lane a little more consistently, cut off the baseline a little more consistently, and knock some free throws down, it's a different ballgame,” said North Stars coach Tom Poulin.
On a positive note, the North Stars attempted 6 more free throws than their opponent while staying even with quick-leaping Hales Franciscan on the glass (35-35).
“I anticipate us being at the line quite a bit,” said Poulin. “We've got a couple guys who draw contact well.
“We need to knock them down and then maybe it's a little more stressful for Hales down the stretch.”
Nelson, a 6-7 junior center, finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots before fouling out with 2:10 left, while 6-4 sophomore guard Quinten Payne added 10 points and 5 boards in his North Stars' debut after transferring from Ft. Myers, Fla.
“That is a very tough assignment against the defensive pressure Hales will throw at you,” Poulin said of Payne's point guard duties. “He got better tonight.”
Aaron Armstead led the Spartans with 18 points, while Aaric Armstead and Dominique Walls chipped in with 15 and 10, respectively.
“I told (Hales) Coach (Gary) London afterward that it was an honor to compete and coach against him,” said Poulin. “I have nothing but respect for them. We feel we can compete with teams like that but it's a serious challenge. They're very good at every position.”
St. Charles North now must focus on Tuesday's (5 p.m.) opponent, Downers Grove South, which defeated East Aurora 67-54 in Monday's tourney opener.
“We'll learn from this and move on,” said Mikes.