So far, so good for Wheaton North
After taking third the last two years at St. Charles East's 49th annual Thanksgiving tournament, Wheaton North is now two wins away from opening its season with the title.
The Falcons held off scrappy St. Charles North 58-55 Wednesday night, improving to 2-0 heading into Friday's game against East Aurora and possibly a championship matchup Saturday vs. St. Joseph.
Wheaton North won despite losing the rebounding battle by 10. The Falcons made up for it with their pressure defense, forcing 22 turnovers and holding the North Stars to 41.6 percent shooting from the field.
"There were times we defended well," Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos said. "Give St. Charles North credit, they kept attacking. They kept coming at us. If we are going to be a really good team we have to be more consistent."
Wheaton North (2-0) defeated Proviso East on Monday but got off to a slow start against St. Charles North (0-2). The North Stars made their first four shots, all within a couple feet from the basket, and Nazos called timeout down 8-4 with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
The North Stars hit just 1 of their next 9 shots to close the first quarter. Their 12-6 lead disappeared with Wheaton North's 11-0 run to end the first quarter, and the Falcons never trailed again.
Wheaton North led 26-21 at halftime and 44-37 after three quarters. The Falcons enjoyed a seemingly comfortable 53-42 advantage with four minutes left, only to watch Tim Janeway score 5 quick points to trim the deficit to 53-47.
Jonathan DeMoss, who drew a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk in the second quarter, scored a putback basket at the buzzer to make it 3-point margin, the closest St. Charles North came since 14-12 late in the first quarter.
"I thought we did a nice job neutralizing their size," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "I'm proud of the guys. We're going to get better."
St. Charles North double-teamed Wheaton North's 6-foot-8 senior John Bagge almost every time he touched the ball. Bagge still finished with a game-high 17 points.
"I think we have four other people who can score," Nazos said.
Guards Steve Pierotti and Dave Pilalis are two of those players. They both finished in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Pilalis scored all 13 of his in the second half.
"We did some good things on defense but we got killed on the boards," Pierotti said.
Janeway scored a team-high 14 points for the North Stars, followed by Danny Jimemez with 12 and DeMoss and Zach Hirsch with 10.
Seven of the North Stars' top 10 players were on the football team. Poulin said it will take a little time for them to get in basketball shape, and once they do expect to see improvement on statistics like 22 turnovers.
"These kids are winners in everything they do," Poulin said. "We're just a little rusty. They haven't touched a basketball much this fall. This is the second straight game turnovers have been a problem. We've got to start taking better care of the basketball."