St. Charles North routs Elgin
St. Charles North wasted no time in seizing the moment and letting visiting Elgin know it was in for a battle Saturday night in St. Charles.
The North Stars started the game with a 13-2 run and ended up winning the Upstate Eight Conference River Division contest 87-27.
Leading scorer Jacob Ludwig finished with 17 points and was quick to point out that the win was an entire team effort earned by the starters, bench players, defense, and the transition game.
“I think the score speaks for itself,” Ludwig said. “Everyone got involved tonight and it didn't matter who scored. We really kept up the defensive intensity and that really helped us create some easy buckets.”
The North Stars' pressuring defense forced Elgin into 12 first half turnovers, which St. Charles North quickly turned into transition points. The North Stars also fired in 18 3-pointers that led to a very deadly total package.
SCN coach Tom Poulin credited a strong defensive effort and some hot shooting for the victory.
“We're always concerned when we play Elgin because (Maroons' coach) Mike (Sitter) does a great job with those kids,” Poulin said. “They play hard so we always know we're going to get their best effort. I thought our defense really helped lead to some better offense. We shot very well tonight.”
The North Stars (4-4, 2-1) used the defense to start the game with a 23-8 first-quarter lead over the Maroons (2-6, 1-3). St. Charles North didn't let up in the second half either, adding another 19 unanswered points, 12 coming from 3-point range, for a 42-8 lead at halftime.
The North Stars kept their foot on the gas in the second half, scoring another 26 points in the third quarter to put the game away for good.
“In the past, we've struggled in the third quarter, so this was really just about us doing what we do best,” Ludwig said. “It was about playing defense and being unselfish and working hard in transition to create points.”
“All summer we really stressed working hard on the transition game,” Poulin said. “Then if it's not there, we can work on our half-court offense, but we're looking at it as the best of both worlds. These guys keep working at the transition game. Earlier in the season, we couldn't really show our transition game because our defense wasn't that good, but now our defense is getting better, so we're starting to see the hard work pay off in our transition game.”