St. Charles E. upsets Elgin
St. Charles East showed against Elgin Friday night that it intends to stay in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division basketball race all the way to the finish.
The Saints (12-8, 7-3) often did things the hard way during their 65-63 victory over the Maroons (16-3, 5-3) before a frenzied crowd in St. Charles.
For starters, they fell behind 14-4 after an opening quarter that included 1-of-11 field-goal shooting.
Down the stretch, the Saints were forced to play the final 4:28 without junior leading scorer Kendall Stephens (21 points), who fouled out with his team ahead 51-45.
But they persevered, thanks in part to a superb team effort that was fueled by a pair of sophomores — 6-foot-7 David Mason and guard Dom Adduci.
Mason scored 7 of his 11 points over the last 2:38, including 4 consecutive free throws in the final 52 seconds.
“It was fun,” said Mason. “They just kept sticking with me and told me to play with confidence. I just went out there and did what I could to help.”
“David was great tonight,” said Saints coach Pat Woods. “It was a little bit of coming-out party for him. We’ve had confidence in Dave — that’s why we’ve stayed with him and gone to him in big situations.”
Stephens, who canned 4 of the Saints’ 9 three-point baskets, might have been Mason’s biggest fan as he watched the final 4-plus minutes from the bench.
“We gave the game ball to him,” said Stephens. “We’re just so proud of him. He’s one of the best people I know. I think he deserves it out of everyone to have a solid game like that.”
Adduci finished with 14 points, including 3 three-pointers, while Johnny Hondlik added 10. The Saints also received important contributions from Charlie Fisher (6 points), Luke Ludke, and Ben Skoog.
“We had a lot of people stepping up,” said Woods, whose team remains a game in back of UEC River leader Geneva (6-2) in the loss column while being tied with Elgin and St. Charles North.
“I thought we stayed strong,” added Woods. “We’ve handled adversity well and we’re sitting in a decent position right now.”
It didn’t take long for the Saints to turn things around in the second quarter. Stephens nailed a pair of 3-pointers and Hondlik hit another, as the Saints grabbed their first lead of the night at 15-14 just 2:49 into the period.
Three minutes later, Stephens’ 3-point play capped an 18-0 run that extended the Saints’ lead to 22-14.
“We took our foot off their throat,” said Maroons coach Mike Sitter. “We gave them confidence to start that second quarter when they hit four open shots quick. When we give them open looks, that’s on us.
“The kids admitted at halftime that they didn’t come out in the second quarter with the same intensity. This is varsity basketball and against a good conference team, you just can’t do that.”
Kory Brown scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter for Elgin, which suffered its second straight defeat after winning 12 straight games.
“We’re just kind of in a midseason lull, I guess,” said Sitter. “Our practices haven’t been really good lately and that carries over into games.”
Arie Williams had 11 points, and Gerardo Mojica added 10 before leaving the game late with an ankle injury.
St. Charles East’s next opponent will be cross-town rival St. Charles North Wednesday night.
“If there’s ever a time to start clicking, it’s right now,” said Woods.