York rallies past St. Charles North
St. Charles North seemed to be in control of its non-conference boys basketball game against York at Loyola University’s Gentile Center on Sunday afternoon.
But the North Stars let it slip away in the final quarter.
Senior Will Sullivan (21 points) and sophomore David Cohn (15 points) combined for 16 fourth-quarter points to power York to come from behind 60-56 victory in Chicago.
St. Charles North senior Josh Mikes and senior Chris Conrad were held out of their second consecutive game for breaking team rules, but the North Stars entered the final quarter with an 8-point advantage.
St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said Mikes and Conrad are set to return to the North Stars lineup for Wednesday’s game at Elgin.
York (17-8) used a 13-0 run midway through the final quarter to take a 53-46 lead, and St. Charles North (13-11) would come no closer than 4 points.
“I’m disappointed with the finish,” Poulin said. “I thought we had the game in hand and we gift-wrapped it in the end. York didn’t quit and we had too many mental breakdowns both defensively and offensively.”
Junior Kyle Nelson scored a game-high 25 points and added 4 rebounds in helping the North Stars take a 22-17 lead.
“He’s hard to handle,” said Poulin of Nelson’s big game. “He has a good skill set and he can finish underneath.”
St. Charles North also limited Sullivan and Cohn to 9 points combined in the first half.
The North Stars increased their lead to 35-26 with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by sophomore Quinten Payne (18 points).
But York started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to narrow the deficit to 41-40 with 6:28 remaining.
“All season we’ve started off kind of slow,” said Sullivan, who scored 14 second-half points. “As time goes on we usually find our rhythm, and once we get going we’re tough to stop.”
St. Charles North jumped back to a 46-40 advantage on a basket by Jason Weinzirl (6 points), but York responded with its 13-0 run to take control of the game.
“They started their run and we could match it,” said Nelson. “We had stupid turnovers, forced some things, and rushed it.”
Senior guard Cody Kliethermes (11 points) hit two of his three 3-pointers in the final quarter to power the Dukes, who have won 11 of 13 games since starting the season 6-6.
“It took a little while for them to adapt to my system,” said first-year York coach Dominic Cannon, a former Prospect coach. “But I’m very proud of my team, they keep coming and coming.”