St. Charles North misses Pontiac goal

PONTIAC St. Charles North ultimately fell short of its primary goal at its first appearance at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.

Tom Poulin, the North Stars' boys basketball coach, had stated that his central mission was to play in four games at the double-elimination tournament.

In their morning consolation semfinal against Lockport on Friday, St. Charles North had a strong beginning, only to have its hopes dashed by a resurgent Porters team that reversed a 9-point deficit to post a 55-53 victory.

"We wanted to come out fast and make (Lockport) play from behind," Poulin said.

The North Stars (6-11) did just that as Kyle Nelson, who led all players in scoring for the second straight game with 17 points, had five in succession to help stake the North Stars to a 15-6 lead after the first quarter.

Lockport (9-6), which would later defeat Waukegan for the consolation championship, would revive behind its opportunistic defense in the second quarter.

But St. Charles North had an unexpected ringer of its own: sophomore Alex Goetz.

With Michael Schroeder sidelined with a thumb injury sustained against Pontiac on Thursday night, Goetz was inserted into the game and promptly hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give St. Charles North a 21-14 lead.

"I came in the game to help the team," said Goetz, who finished with 10 points. "(The consecutive 3-pointers) gave us a lift. We miss Michael. He is one of our best players on the team."

Nelson had a driving left-handed layup to give St. Charles North a 31-25 lead at the half, but the spread was virtually reversed when the Porters limited the North Stars to 4 third-quarter points.

Ryan Thomas' 3-pointer was the only field goal in the period for St. Charles North.

"We were playing east-west instead of north-south," Poulin said.

Enjoying a 10-point plurality in the quarter, Lockport led 39-35 entering the final quarter.

But Quinten Payne hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession to make it a 1-point game.

The remainder of the contest was a cat-and-mouse affair with Lockport continually attempting to retain its precarious leads.

Nelson and Kyle Swanson both forged ties for St. Charles North, but Lockport guard Brandon Sawin hit a critical 3-pointer that gave Lockport the lead for good.

St. Charles North would come within one on three separate occasions down the stretch, but the tip-in Nelson had at the buzzer only made the final more tantalizing.

Once again, 10 missed free throws were the central source of the North Stars' demise.

"Close games are decided by free throws and coaching," Poulin said. "We have to get better at both."

Payne added 13 points for St. Charles North.

Kyle Ward and Sawin had 12 and 11 points, respectively for Lockport.