St. Charles East hangs on to beat Elgin
Three weeks into the season, St. Charles East's boys basketball team has experienced more than its share of health concerns.
From broken bones to a concussion with a case of the stomach flu in between, the Saints have put many different combinations of players on the court.
Friday night was no exception, as the Saints played their first game without senior point guard James McQuillan, who suffered a broken foot last Sunday against St. Patrick.
Trailing Elgin 34-30 at halftime, the Saints (5-2, 1-0) went on an 11-2 run in the first 3 ½ minutes of the third quarter and used a 10-0 spurt at the outset of the fourth quarter to build a 60-45 lead before hanging on for a 69-66 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory in St. Charles.
"I just call it finding our way," said Saints coach Patrick Woods. "We weren't very crisp at times tonight but credit Elgin - I thought they had a great game plan."
Led by Desmond Douglas (20 points) and Lavion Baldwin (19 points), the Maroons (4-4, 0-3) jumped out to leads of 10-2 and 13-5 in the first 4 minutes.
Making his first start, senior Ben Talarczyk (13 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers and sophomore guard Zach Robinson (6 points) canned another 3-pointer to give the Saints an 18-15 lead.
"Ben really gave us a shot in the arm to get us going," said Woods.
Sophomore Justin Hardy, playing for the first time since suffering a concussion during the Thanksgiving tournament, tallied 7 of his team-high 16 points during the Saints' 20-11 third-quarter surge.
"This was his first game back in 2 ½ weeks and he had only one full practice under his belt - (Thursday)," said Woods. "He did a great job."
Senior forward Zach Hondlik (13 points, 11 rebounds) scored 5 points and teammate Grayson Brucato (6 points) hit a 3-pointer as the Saints scored 10 unanswered points to grab a 60-45 lead with 5:30 remaining.
Hondlik also made his presence felt as a passer (6 assists), finding teammates cutting to the basket on regularity against the Maroons' zone defense.
"It's all about your read and where the defense is at," said Hondlik. "It was easy finds down low."
"When he plays like he did tonight, he just makes us so much better," said Woods.
Elgin drew within 66-64 on a pair of free throws by Douglas with 33 seconds remaining but 2 free throws from junior Jack Zylke with 5 seconds left sealed the decision.
"I don't think we started the second half with the intensity that we started the game," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter. "I'm proud of the way the guys fought back though."
Junior center Courtese Cooper added 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots for Elgin.