Streamwood’s defense stymies St. Charles N.
Coaches don’t want masterpieces as much as they want wins.
So while the Streamwood girls basketball team may not have shot well, and turned the ball over 21 times, the Sabres’ defensive effort Friday night pleased their veteran coach, George Rosner.
Down 20-17 at halftime, the Sabres rallied behind a tough defense that held St. Charles North to just 14 second-half points as Streamwood came away with a 46-34 Upstate Eight River win at home.
“Our defense won this game tonight, especially in the first quarter,” said Rosner. “Unfortunately we couldn’t score. We had to talk about some things at halftime and our defense was outstanding in the second half. Best of the season.”
The teams combined to shoot just 3-for-21 in the first quarter and the Sabres (5-4, 2-1) came away with a 4-3 lead.
Things heated up in the second quarter, but more so for St. Charles North (3-6, 3-1) than Streamwood. The North Stars scored half their points in the game in the second quarter, led by two 3-pointers from junior Alex Silverman, to take a 20-17 lead at the break. Silverman’s back-to-back 3s midway through the period spurred a 9-2 run that gave the Stars their halftime advantage.
The Sabres caught up in the third quarter, taking the lead for good at 30-28 on a bucket by Hannah McGlone with 2:03 left in the quarter. Two free throws from Jessica Cerda made it a 32-28 game but the North Stars got a 3-pointer from freshman Sam Novak with 35 seconds left to make it a 32-31 game going into the fourth.
But the fourth quarter belonged to Streamwood, which harassed the North Stars into 8 of their 26 turnovers and 1 of 14 shooting. Sabres’ senior point guard Amanda Patterson scored 7 of her 11 points in the quarter and led the defensive effort with 2 steals. She also grabbed 3 offensive rebounds.
“My defense was getting more physical and that contributed to my offense,” Patterson said. “It was our first home game and we wanted to win it. That was our goal today. It was a real physical game and that always makes us want to win more as a team.”
Rosner’s come to expect that kind of game from his floor leader.
“She rebounded real well and attacked the basket,” he said. “She had a great floor game out there. She’s a senior and I expect that from her.”
In addition to their turnovers and struggles shooting, the North Stars were also outrebounded 39-31.
“We weren’t spacing the floor real well and adjusting to get good shots,” said SCN coach Colleen Brennan. “It was a physical game on both ends.”
The Stars also lost Silverman to an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, limiting their offense.
“We could have used Alex Silverman on the court at the end,” said Brennan, who was pleased with her team’s competitiveness, hustle and discipline.
McGlone led Streamwood with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals, while Cerda added 10 points and 4 assists. Silverman and senior Megan Booe had 9 points each for the North Stars and Novak added 7.