Fenwick too fast for St. Charles N.

Some might say that playing in the talent-filled 29th annual Dundee-Crown Charger Classic girls basketball tournament is an eye-opening experience.

St. Charles North (4-8) ran into perennial powerhouse Fenwick (10-3) in Monday’s opening round and emerged on the short end of an 80-56 decision.

Yale-bound senior center Meredith Boardman poured in a game-high 24 points, with 11 of them coming during the Friars’ 31-7 second-quarter surge.

Fenwick, which has captured 6 of the last 7 tourney titles at Dundee-Crown and 9 in 12 years, used relentless full-court pressure and trapping defense to take the North Stars out of their offense during the middle 2 quarters, outscoring St. Charles North 53-20.

“It’s a good experience for our team,” said North Stars coach Colleen Brennan. “We don’t have that many players who have been here before. It’s a great tournament.

“We threw the ball away a little against their press but we also beat the press a lot,” added Brennan. “(Fenwick) is a great shooting team and a great program.”

The Friars, who pride themselves on playing fast and taking outside shots, displayed that hectic style with 42 3-point attempts — making 10.

“The way they shoot the ball from beyond the arc, it’s like it’s going out of style,” said Brennan. “I think they shoot like 30, 40 (3-pointers) a game. It seems like everybody has the green light for them.”

However, Fenwick struggled to find the range early on, as the North Stars enjoyed a promising start. With the Friars connecting on just 1 of their first 19 field-goal attempts, the North Stars grabbed a 12-10 first-quarter lead, thanks to Megan Booe’s buzzer-beating, 14-foot jumper.

“In the first quarter, we stayed with them and wanted it,” said Booe.

The first 8 minutes also included back-to-back jumpers from junior guard Natalie Winkates (team-high 14 points) and a 3-point play by senior forward Jerica Balousek (9 points, 10 rebounds).

Fenwick took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Maggie Reilly (18 points) in the opening minute of the second quarter, and took control with an 11-0 run that featured 3-point plays from Boardman and Paige Corvino.

“We won the first and fourth quarters but we’ve got to get the second and third quarters together,” said Brennan, whose team was without injured junior guard Alex Silverman. “They shot the ball very well in those quarters.”

Liz McNally and Ava Tarka each added 7 points, while Lauren Durocher and Sam Novak had 6 apiece for the North Stars, who return to face Prospect at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Prospect, which lost a 54-53 decision to Maine West Monday, handed St. Charles North a 67-45 defeat on Nov. 23.

“We’re making a lot of progress,” said Brennan. “We’ll move forward to the next three games. The thing I like about the tournament is that you get to watch your next opponent.

“Now we get to play Prospect again, and we didn’t play very well the last time,” added the coach.

Playing at Dundee-Crown can be a humbling experience.

“There are a lot of new teams so you see new things,” said Booe, one of few North Stars players who have experienced the talent level at Dundee-Crown. “It’s a chance to really compare yourselves to other teams and find out what you can do to get better.”