St. Charles East puts it together vs. Wheaton North
St. Charles East girls basketball coach Lori Drumtra figured what her team would be up against facing Wheaton North Wednesday evening.
"I watched their game against Glenbard South online," said Drumtra. "I kind of knew what to expect. They're very much a defensive, in-your-face team that applies full-court pressure nonstop. I knew they were going to put tremendous pressure on us and that it would be loud."
The Saints (6-8) passed the test, scoring a decisive 68-54 victory over the host Falcons (5-8) during the third day of the 32nd annual Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic in Wheaton.
Led by Sara Rosenfeldt (20 points, 15 rebounds), Hannah Vitkus (15 points, 9 rebounds), and Sam Munroe (13 points, 6 assists), the Saints built a 28-19 halftime lead before blowing the game open late in the third quarter.
"It was a lot of fun playing against Wheaton North because they had intensity throughout the game," said Rosenfeldt, who finished 7 of 9 from the field and made all 6 of her free throws. "We handled their pressure. Hannah and Sam really pushed the ball and got some easy layups."
After a 3-point basket by senior Emmy Gryna pulled the Falcons within 6 at 30-24 early in the second quarter, the Saints closed out the period on a 15-3 run to extend their lead to 45-27.
The surge included 4 inside baskets by Vitkus, an offensive rebound putback from Kathleen Townsend, a 3-pointer by Munroe and a coast-to-coast, buzzer-beating layup from Rosenfeldt.
"I thought we handled it (pressure) well for three quarters," said Drumtra.
"That third quarter hurt, especially at the end," said Falcons coach David Eaton. "They had layup-layup-layup to finish up the quarter there. You could see that we were a little bit fatigued."
Gryna, who scored a game-high 27 points with six 3-pointers, and sophomore teammate Hannah Swider (13 points) combined for 22 fourth-quarter points as the Falcons whittled a 23-point deficit to 10 at 64-54 in the final minute.
"Now they know as tired as they were, they found a way to get it done in the fourth quarter," said Eaton. "They've got to figure out how to play through some of that fatigue.
"We got it back to 10 but they hit their free throws."
St. Charles East connected on 13 of 14 free throws, 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
"That was nice," said Drumtra.
Marissa Urso added 7 points as the Saints enjoyed a whopping 43-22 rebounding edge.
"It was nice to come back and have that intensity and effort because I really think that was lacking (Tuesday, 43-37 loss to Schaumburg)," said Drumtra.
St. Charles East will face Hinsdale Central at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the fifth-place game while the Falcons take on Glenbard South for seventh place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.