Jakaitis ignites St. Charles North's comeback
After trailing by three after the first quarter, and down by nine early in the second, the St. Charles North girls basketball team needed someone to give them a spark.
Claire Jakaitis answered that call, scoring 19 points in the middle quarters to power the North Stars to a 63-41 victory over Resurrection in the 32nd Annual Charger Christmas Classic in Dundee.
Jakaitis scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in a second quarter that saw the North Stars (7-3) go on a 14-0 run and take a 27-23 lead to put them up for good.
"At the beginning of the year we would have had to call a timeout to get them settled down," North Stars coach Sean Masoncup said about the early deficit. "They're starting to learn about what we can be about. We started using our size and we started getting layups. The big thing for us in the second and third quarters was we had 16 assists. Once we started sharing the ball it was a much different game."
Plenty of those assists came off Jakaitis baskets as she was perfect in the paint during those two quarters, hitting 7 shots from down low, after struggling in the first with the ball in her hands.
"In the beginning, for some reason I just couldn't catch the ball," Jakaitis said. "My teammates kept passing me the ball and I finally got into the rhythm of the game."
It looked like it was going to be an uphill battle for the North Stars early in contest, with Resurrection (6-4) going on a 9-0 run and hitting consistently from behind the arc to take a 17-14 lead after the first quarter.
Morgan Rosencrants and Nichole Davidson helped keep the North Stars afloat in the first until Jakaitis found her groove, scoring a combined 11 points in the quarter.
Rosencrants, who finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds, would sit for much of the second and almost all of the third quarter in foul trouble, taking a big piece off the floor that the North Stars had to work around.
"Morgan is really good at getting those scrappy rebounds and steals. We had to really buckle down on defense and work together to make up for (losing her)," Jakaitis said.
It was Davidson who filled in on the glass, snatching 7 boards while also netting 15 points spread throughout the game.
In all St. Charles North out-rebounded the Bandits 27-16, allowing the North Stars to hold Resurrection to just 24 points after the first quarter.
"Defensively, we really started to lock it down," Masoncup said. "We didn't give up many offensive rebounds and that defense led to our offense. Once we started rushing them (to shoot) they couldn't hit their 3's."
With the win, St. Charles North will face Buffalo Grove at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday while the Bandits will play Maine West at 12:30 p.m.