St. Charles North hustles past Downers Grove South
Jake Ludwig scored the game-winning basket for St. Charles North to beat Downers Grove South 49-46 Friday night at the 56th annual Ron Johnson Tournament, a 3-point play off a wild scramble on a loose ball with 5.2 seconds left.
Everyone knows basketball is a team game, and Ludwig is no exception. The senior was quick to credit his teammates for their help on a sequence that began with the Saints down 46-45 in the waning seconds.
Jack Callaghan drove baseline and got to the free-throw line on a blocking foul with 11 seconds to go.
Callaghan made the first free throw to tie the game. The second missed, but John Davern knocked the rebound away from the Mustangs, and Jarod Karom dove on the floor to tip the ball away from the Mustangs and keep the scramble alive.
The ball eventually found its way to Ludwig under the basket, and the senior point guard flipped it in while being fouled.
"That was a lot of hustle right there," Ludwig said. "I ended up with it but those guys deserve the credit."
Downers Grove South (0-3) got the ball to TJ Clifford whose 3-point attempt at the buzzer came up short.
"Johny Davern and Jarod really wanting to win and battling," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "We talk about 32 minutes, every second counts. That's how we need to play to win, outworking teams. Those guys really gave everything they have to get a piece of the basketball and it made a difference."
The North Stars (2-1) will play St. Charles East for third place at 6 p.m. Saturday. Callaghan led with 19 points and 7 rebounds, Ludwig had 17 and 6 while battling foul trouble, and Davern chipped in 6 off the bench.
St. Charles North needed to win while holding the Mustangs to 39 points to win the tiebreaker with Plainfield East and Metea Valley - all 2-1 in pool play - and advance to the title game a third straight year.
Things looked good for a half, North leading 23-19, before the Mustangs' 16-point third quarter ended those hopes and put the North Stars in a dogfight just to get a win.
"We were going to play our style offensively," Poulin said. "We thought about going zone. The kids said we can shut them down in man. We did well in the first half. We've got to figure out what's going on in the second half because that's three games in a row we have not performed well in the second half."
Ludwig picked up his fourth foul with 17 seconds left in the third quarter. Clifford's 10 second-half points helped the Mustangs take a 35-32 lead to the fourth.
Callaghan's 3 put the North Stars back up 39-37 - there were 13 ties or lead changes in the second half - only to see the Mustangs battle back to tie the game at 39, 40, 42 and 44.
After Mikey Schroeder split free throws for a 45-44 North lead with 38 seconds remaining, Mantas Augustinavicius drove for a layup to give the Mustangs their final lead.
That could have held up for the winner if not for the North Stars' hustle on their final possession.
"They did a great job crashing the boards obviously right down to the final play," Mustangs coach Kris Olson said. "Rebounding was crucial."
Both teams made 17 field goals - the North Stars needing 53 attempts to the Mustangs' 42 - as they got those extra shots by committing just 8 turnovers and winning the glass, 34-25.
Downers Grove South will play East Aurora at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the seventh-place Saturday.
"We're an extremely inexperienced team so this tournament is great for us because of the quality of the teams," Olson said. "I thought the whole game we did a nice job defensively. Third quarter we got the ball inside more."