Wheaton N. tops North Stars
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 (20 of 48).
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.
Tim Janeway scored a team-high 14 points for the North Stars, followed by Danny Jimemez with 12 and Jonathon DeMoss and Zach Hirsch with 10.
Rockford Auburn 57, CL South 40: Junior Eric Wilde scored 12 points to lead Crystal Lake South, but the Gators lost their first game in the Rockford Boylan tournament. Chris Reuter added 7 points for South.
Lake Forest Academy 49, South Elgin 43: Adam Hodge scored 16 points and Josh Glenn added 13 but South Elgin (1-2) fell short of a win at the Fenton tournament.
WW South 55, Streamwood 54: Tem Eskiel scored 23 points and T.J. Enno 12 but Streamwood (0-2) lost a heartbreaker at the Wheaton Academy tournament.