St. Charles East's 'D' does it again

It was a case of déjà vu for St. Charles East's girls basketball team Tuesday night.

Three days after holding Neuqua Valley to 8-of-40 shooting from the field during a 39-20 triumph, the Saints' defense again showed its stingy side en route to a 41-20 nonconference victory over Glenbard North in St. Charles.

The Panthers connected on just 8 of 40 field-goal attempts while the Saints (4-4), who pocketed their third straight victory, also won the rebounding battle 38-25.

"What I'm real pleased with defensively is you give up the outside shot, but I don't want to give up second and third shots," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "We rarely did that (tonight)."

Trailing 5-2, the Saints went on a 16-2 tear over the next seven minutes to take control. Lexi Baltes scored all 5 of her points during the run, while Tasha Lalos added a 3-pointer and Jaime Rust made a pair of baskets, including a turnaround jumper.

"That was a sweet little move she made on the low block, turning and hitting that little fadeaway," Drumtra said. "I was like, 'Where did that come from?' "

The 5-foot-9 Rust, who led the Saints with 9 points and 6 rebounds, held her own down low trying to defend Panthers 6-foot forward Megan Ney and 5-10 forward Lauren Verner.

"You just have to get in front of them, stay tough, stay strong and box out," Rust said.

"She's our defensive specialist," Drumtra said of Rust. "She and Lexi (Baltes) kind of set the bar for us on defense."

The Saints also received significant contributions from their bench as Tara Sigona, Stephanie Roan, Lauren Joyce, Shannon Kennedy, Ashley Miller and Laura Aavang combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds.

"That was nice," Drumtra said. "That's the first game they've been able to do that. They got some quality time tonight."

After a slow start at the Schaumburg tournament, the Saints have worked their way back to the .500 mark.

"We've got our Christmas tournament (Wheaton North) seeding meeting (today) and I feel good about going there saying we're 4-4," Drumtra said.

Ney scored 7 points to pace the Panthers, who committed 19 turnovers.

"It's hard to get continuity when we turn the ball over," said Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn. "That's our biggest problem right now."