St. Charles North gets past Streamwood
St. Charles North used the 3-point bomb early to hold off Streamwood's fast start, then put the exclamation point on a 62-47 Upstate Eight River Division victory Saturday night with a resounding slam dunk by guard Quinten Payne.
The North Stars kept themselves in the Upstate Eight title hunt a night after a discouraging loss to Elgin by matching Streamwood's long-range shooting in the early going and then relying on forward Josh Mikes to take over the inside game.
Payne led four North Stars in double figures with a game-high 17 points, but Chris Conrad set the tone with 14 first-half points on four 3-pointers and a layup.
Streamwood (4-12, 0-4) opened a 14-12 lead after one quarter, but the North Stars took the lead for good when Conrad opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner, then converted a steal into a layup.
It looked like St. Charles North (8-8, 3-1) was ready to put on a clinic when Jason Weinzirl quickly followed with two 3-pointers and Payne powered inside for a layup and a 25-14 lead that was eventually extended to 32-18 at halftime.
“I thought we played pretty well in spurts,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “There was a lull to start the second half, and maybe our kids have a tendency to start either the first or second half slow, but Streamwood came out and made us realize the game wasn't over with their effort.”
Poulin was referring to a 9-0 run the Sabres put together early in the third quarter after switching to man-to-man pressure rather than the zone defense St. Charles North shot well against early.
When Streamwood crept within 38-33 on a Zach Harris offensive putback, Mikes (12 points, game-high 11 rebounds) began to assert himself all over the floor.
St. Charles North had a 17-0 run to get control of the first half, but late in the third and into the fourth quarter Mikes initiated a 13-6 run that put away the game. The North Star senior had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 inside baskets and 3 free throws to vault his team ahead 51-39.
“I think we were pretty prepared for either defense they were going to play against us,” Mikes said. “We really wanted to concentrate on boxing out, and then the ball should come to you.”
Mikes' handiwork set up the final blow when Kyle Nelson (11 points, 6 rebounds) threw an outlet pass to Payne, who went toward the basket, was intentionally fouled, and went high for a thunderous slam dunk. His 2 free throws made it a 4-point play and put the North Stars comfortably ahead at 55-49.
“Kyle threw me a great pass and ran the play perfect, so I give all the credit to Chris (Conrad) setting the perfect screen and then Kyle throwing the pass right on the money,” Payne said of his slam dunk. “I went up, thinking I was going to get hit and maybe undercut, so thought it was best to dunk it.”
Streamwood had three players in double figures with D. J. Mustari leading the way with 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Jerald Ofiana tallied 11 points and center Mike Montgomery had 10.
The North Stars controlled the boards with a 32-21 edge, but committed 19 turnovers in the game.
Streamwood coach Tim Jones felt his team played well, other than a second-quarter in which it produced only 4 points.
“In that second quarter they put the clamps on us,” Jones said. “But then we made a nice run and executed very well, but we just didn't hit our open shots.”
Jones said offensive rebounding was an issue for his team, especially when the Sabres had three smaller guards on the floor at the same time.
Each team had 19 field goals, but St. Charles North enjoyed an 18-4 edge at the free-throw line by attacking the basket in second half.
After losing to Elgin on Friday, Poulin was happy to see his team back in the win column.
“Overall I am happy with our effort, and that has never been an issue for us,” he said, “but we do have to learn to play the entire 32 minutes and play a little bit smarter, but we made some strides in that direction.”