Girls basketball: Brooklyn Schilb scores 31, helps St. Charles East win fourth straight game against St. Charles North
St. Charles East sophomore Brooklyn Schilb has been a thorn in plenty of team’s sides throughout the season.
But against a potent full-court defense like St. Charles North, it’s been one of the few exceptions on a star-studded season.
But in the second round of the crosstown series, Schilb knew what needed to change to ramp up on offense.
“I just knew I had to keep my composure and put all of the trust in my teammates,” Schilb said. “With that press they were putting on, we knew we had to slow the game down and let us time the pace and not let them speed us up.”
And once the pace was set, there was no stopping her.
Schilb finished the night with 31 points on the night, helping the Saints secure a regular-season sweep of the crosstown rivalry game with a 43-36 victory.
“I don’t even know that many people that can score 30 points total on that defense,” Saints coach Katie Claussner said. “At this point, she doesn’t surprise me anymore though. She shows up every single game, she knows what’s expected of her and she rises to the challenge every single time.”
The win marks the fourth straight win for the Saints (16-9 overall, 9-2 DuKane) in the crosstown rivalry, marking the longest streak for them since winning four straight between three seasons from 2012-2013.
“It always feels great to beat North, especially as a former player at East,” Claussner said. “But there’s a big possibility that we see them again. We know our job’s not done yet.”
After a highly defensive first quarter that saw them hold a 9-7 lead, the Saints managed to ramp up the offense at the end of both the second and third quarters, going on both an 11-2 and 11-3 run to end each stanza and build the lead to double-digits.
“We knew our biggest thing was putting on the defensive pressure, so we knew we had to be up on them,” Schilb said. “Everyone just did their jobs to make sure that we filled in the gaps and we just knew that pressure would turn into offense.”
Sophomore Kathlyn Bainbridge added eight points and four steals while senior Addie Schilb (five points) grabbed 10 rebounds for the Saints, who now turn their attention to a rematch with Lake Park to go back atop the DuKane Conference standings.
“This was one we needed,” Claussner said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this season, and we’ve been trying to find that ‘it’ factor and we found it. We want that conference title again.”
While the Saints had little problem adjusting to the pressure, the North Stars (17-6, 8-3) faced some troubles keeping up with the pace throughout the contest. And while they did manage to close the gap down from 15 points to seven in the fourth quarter, it proved to be too little too late.
“We didn’t adhere too strictly to some of our defensive principles that have been so successful,” North Stars coach Grant Oler said. “And you can’t allow a player of Brooklyn’s caliber to get going, it’s like putting toothpaste back in the tube. I don’t even remember the last time that we let a single person score 30 points on us.”
The North Stars also suffered from some cold shooting from the floor, with an opening 3-pointer from junior Lelanie Posada (15 points) being their only make from beyond the arc on the night. Junior Bronwyn How added 15 points in the contest.
“For a team that prides ourself on being able to score both inside and outside, we did a lot more work inside than usual,” Oler said. “They’re both extremely deadly on the inside, but at the end of the day we just had too many turnovers. And against a high-caliber team like that, you can’t do that.”