St. Charles North 84, Elgin 72 (2 OT)

Despite blowing leads late in regulation and again during the first overtime session, St. Charles North kept battling.

After falling behind 68-67 in the opening minute of the second extra session, the North Stars (3-7, 2-2) refused to fold.

Senior Tim Janeway, who came off the bench to lead all scorers with 22 points, tallied 6 of those points during a 13-2 tear that finally propelled the North Stars to an 84-72 double-overtime triumph over Upstate Eight Conference opponent Elgin (5-3, 2-1) Friday night in St. Charles.

"If we would have lost that one…" said Janeway.

The North Stars led 57-51 with 37 seconds left in regulation before the Maroons closed with a 7-1 surge , tying the game at 58 on a pair of free throws from Armani Williams (17 points) with 3.7 seconds remaining.

In the first overtime, a pair of Janeway free throws gave the North Stars a 66-59 lead with 2:04 left.

But the Maroons didn't go away quietly, as Williams nailed back-to-back 3-point baskets before junior guard Larry Berry's driving layup -- his only points of the game -- tied the game at 67 and forced the second OT session.

In both cases, the North Stars were their own worst enemy, making just 10 of 23 free-throw attempts during the fourth quarter and first overtime period.

"We've had some games where we've been pretty good and some where it's just been bad," Janeway said of his team's 17-for-37 effort from the free-throw line. "We just had to play harder (in the second overtime)."

North Stars junior forward Mike Kastel added 9 points and 10 rebounds in a reserve role.

D'Angelo Stewart had 13 points before fouling out, while Kenny Williams added 11 for the Maroons, who knocked off St. Charles North in similar fashion almost a year to the day -- 92-80 in double overtime on Jan. 5.

"Same time, same place as last year," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter. "It was there for us, but we just chose to give the ball away and did things not to win the game.

"We were sloppy at times, and that's how we practiced this week -- and you play how you practice."

Nick Neari and Jonathon DeMoss also reached double figures with 18 and 10 points, respectively, for the North Stars, who face Woodstock at 9 a.m. today in the opening round of the Jacobs tournament.

"We were 2-7 but we're not a 2-7 ballclub," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin. "Our seven losses all are against high-quality basketball teams, and we proved tonight that we can beat a high-quality basketball team.

"This was a huge win tonight. It was exactly what we needed."