St. Charles N. rebounds

PONTIAC Kyle Nelson has learned many lessons as the St. Charles North boys basketball team has played in twin holiday tournaments the last two weeks.

Thursday night against host Pontiac at the Indians' 81st annual tournament, the North Stars' post displayed not only good judgment but also plenty of offensive and defensive firepower to help St. Charles North turn back Pontiac 56-39 in consolation-bracket action.

Nelson was flirting with a triple-double after posting game highs of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.

As a result of his sterling all-around play, augmented by 17 points from Quinten Payne, Nelson extended the North Stars' stay in central Illinois.

St. Charles North (6-10) will face Lockport in the second consolation semifinal Friday morning.

"It's jump after they jump," Nelson said of his approach to blocking opponents' shots. "We have played a lot of good teams this year. We have been making a lot of strides. Our record doesn't always show it."

Pontiac (2-10) ended the first quarter with a flurry and opened equally strong in the second to take its largest lead of the game at 23-16.

But the North Stars would not allow any more points the remainder of the half, and reserve guard Alex Goetz drained a 3-pointer to bring St. Charles North within 24-23 at the break.

The second half would belong to the North Stars.

Michael Schroeder played through a painful thumb injury to hit three 3-pointers in becoming the third North player to finish in double digits with 12 points.

Payne and Nelson collaborated on several inside scores with the latter benefiting from the Indians' trying to deny Payne unobstructed drives through the paint.

There was one other major factor for Nelson having such a dominant game.

"He played smart tonight," North coach Tom Poulin said. "He has been in foul trouble in both holiday tournaments. We wanted to play (today). We want to play for some kind of trophy at Pontiac."

In a game with seven combined lead changes or ties, St. Charles took command in the third quarter.

Nelson had 4 scores in the paint during the frame, and Payne added six to his total while defensively the North Stars held Pontiac to 3 total field goals in the quarter.

"We did a great job of getting stops (in the second half)," Payne said. "That's what changed the game."

The North Stars' 1-point lead at the break was 40-32 entering the fourth quarter as Schroeder hit the last of his 3-pointers seconds before the buzzer.

"I thought our shot selection was better in the first half than in the second half," Pontiac coach Brandon Martin said.

Josh Wilson had 10 points to lead Pontiac.