St. Charles North pulls out last-second win over Geneva
Geneva and St. Charles North took their DuKane Conference rivalry north to the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates Saturday.
The bigger stage seemed fitting for two teams who entered a combined 12-2. They battled through 14 lead changes and 9 ties before St. Charles North senior guard Luke Scheffers hit what turned out to be the game-winner with 45 seconds to go for a 45-44 victory.
Ethan Marlowe sealed the win by blocking Josh Preston's last-second jumper from the top of the key.
"It just had that state tournament feel where every possession is important," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "If you don't come through and execute that could be the possession that allows the other team to put you away. All this is good for us."
Only a sophomore, Marlowe is new to varsity basketball. But he knew what the win meant for the North Stars (8-1, 2-0) against defending conference champion Geneva (5-2, 1-1).
With 6-foot-9 Bradley recruit Connor Linke guarding him on the final shot, Preston pumped faked to draw contact. Marlowe, who is 6-7 himself, came over and got a piece of the shot as time ran out.
"I was just thinking about staying home on defense," Marlowe said. "I saw Connor help and he jumped and I thought I have to block this shot, can't let him get it off. We have to win it. Geneva is great every year. We came out and knew it had to be a statement win for us."
It was a back-and-forth game throughout with neither team ahead by more than 4 points. The Vikings led 26-24 at halftime.
The North Stars, who held Geneva to 18 points in the second half, made 10 shots from the 3-point arc. Two of them came in the closing seconds of the third quarter by sophomores Max Love and Marlowe to put the North Stars up 35-33.
The teams traded clutch shots in the fourth. Christian Czerniak's 3 gave the North Stars a 38-35 lead; Nathan Valentine's trey tied it. Marlowe tipped a shot in to make it 40-38; Drew Johnson's pullup jumper again tied the score.
The Vikings took their final lead at 44-43 on Johnson's two free throws with 56 seconds left. Scheffers answered with his only field goal of the game moments later, a 17-foot jumper, to go back up 45-44, then the North Stars held on Geneva's final possession.
"I know we can play better than we did and maybe Geneva feels the same way," Poulin said. "Nothing is easy in this conference. We are just happy we got the W today."
Czerniak led a balanced North Stars attack with 13 points. Colin Nelson had 9 and Linke 8.
The sophomores Love and Martowe gave St. Charles North a lift off the bench finishing with 6 and 5 points, respectively.
"They can play and they give us depth," Poulin said. "They play hard, they are long, they can shoot it. They are just going to make us better. By the end of the year I'm excited to see what they are going to look like."
Preston topped all scorers with 16 points, and Johnson added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
"I thought it was a sectional type game in terms of execution, in terms of guys making shots," Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. "It's what you expect with Geneva and St. Charles North."