St. Charles: Dunk City

On consecutive nights last weekend, a player from each St. Charles high school did something for the first time, something noteworthy enough that both of their coaches made a point of mentioning it afterward.

St. Charles North's Nick Neari and St. Charles East's Kevin Senechalle each recorded their first high school dunks.

Each slam came on a similar play, with Neari and Senechalle stealing the ball, taking it to the other end and finishing with the jam.

Neari, a 6-foot-3 guard, became the third North Star to dunk this year, joining Jonathan DeMoss and Mike Kastel.

"Me and him have been dunking in practice," DeMoss said. "It was nice. We're tied."

St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin coached Neari on the North Stars sophomore two years ago. The North Stars were in a 2-point game at DeKalb and Neari went up for a dunk on a breakaway … and missed.

Not this time. While the 6-6 Senechalle made his play earlier in the game against Geneva, Neari's came during the North Stars' fourth-quarter rally that ended with a 1-point win over Lake Park. Poulin said Neari had a lot of guts to dunk at that point in the contest.

"I know he's got a memory now for the rest of his life, that first dunk, you never forget that," Poulin said. " It was a good moment."

Another similarity between Neari and Senechalle? They are both juniors who have over a year to add to their totals.

Bouncing back:ŒSt. Charles East certainly didn't hang its head after a disappointing 75-64 loss to St. Charles North two weeks ago.

The North Stars responded last weekend with a 38-point win over Larkin and a 25-point victory at Geneva.

"It can either make or break your season," St. Charles East coach Brian Clodi said. "You can either respond to adversity, because that's (the St. Charles North game) these kids' Super Bowl, just like Geneva-Batavia is. We just talked about coming together as a group and working extremely hard, everybody getting on each others' back and working together. They believe, and we are just ready for the next game."

Senior Collin Pryor led the North Stars with 29 points, while Senechalle scored a career-high 20.

"This was a real confidence-booster," Senechalle said. "After the North game we just said we have to put it behind us. We feel we could be a totally different team."

"Obviously Colin is just a great, great player," Clodi said. "He got 29 and finished around the rim, made great decisions. Kevin has come along. Those two are our two horses. We're real proud of him."

The 2-0 weekend brought the Saints a game within .500 at 9-10.

"This is where our tough schedule plays into our hands," forward Ryan Suits said. "We played great team defense and pounded the boards really well. We knew we can't let any more slip. We need to win out the rest of these games."

Peace of mind: Down 1 point, 3.6 seconds left, the opposing team calls timeout to ice your shooter who is going to the free-throw line trying to tie and then win the game.

That's the situation Poulin was in last week against Lake Park, and he couldn't have been happier that it was junior Jonathan DeMoss headed to the charity stripe.

"I honestly had no doubt in my mind that he was going to make both of those," Poulin said. "He's just a good free-throw shooter. If I say shoot 100, he shoots 200. He lives in the gym. You know it's just muscle memory. There's no tightness or he's not tense at the line. And he has a will to win."

DeMoss hit nothing but net on both shots, giving St. Charles North a 40-39 victory.

Scouting the North Stars: Lake Park's 2-3 zone stymied St. Charles North for much of that game. It took the North Stars nearly six minutes to score. They only had 14 points at halftime.

"I know we'll see a lot of zone the rest of the season," Poulin said. "We can attack a zone. I think we have the right components. We'll work on it."

Looking ahead: This is always one of the best weeks of the year, the week of Batavia's Night of Hoops. This is the 15th annual event and features two-time defending state champion Simeon making its way west to take on the Bulldogs, which follows East Aurora-St. Joseph and West Aurora-Quincy.

That same night, St. Charles North will try to make a statement in the Upstate Eight when it plays at Waubonsie Valley, while Aurora Central can take command of the Suburban Catholic Conference race by winning at Driscoll. A Highlander win, though, would put Driscoll, Aurora Central and St. Francis in position to finish in a three-way tie for first.