South Elgin's defense swarms St. Charles North
St. Charles North turnovers piled up quicker than inches of snow during a blizzard as the South Elgin defense reduced visibility to zero Tuesday night.
South Elgin seemingly had a hand in every St. Charles North face. The Storm allowed few shots to go uncontested, denied passes, hounded guards on the perimeter and forced a total of 26 St. Charles North turnovers to open the new year with a 61-44 Upstate Eight Conference home victory.
The win by South Elgin (10-4) snapped a 3-game losing skid, each of those losses coming at a holiday tournament at York. The Storm remain unbeaten both in the UEC (3-0) and at home (4-0). St. Charles North (9-7, 2-2), which reached the final of the Jacobs Holiday Tournament, dropped its second straight decision.
"I'm very happy with holding them to 44 points," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "They were scoring in the sixties at Jacobs... This was huge to see where we are as a team after the letdown (at York)"
Playing without starting point guard Jake Maestranzi (ankle) and key reserve John Menken, South Elgin didn't miss a beat. Tommy Childs moved to point guard for the night and scored a game-high 19 points to go with 8 assists and 3 steals.
"We just wanted to stay focused and end that 3-game streak," Childs said. "This was big - another conference win and another win at home."
The North Stars led 10-9 after a quarter, but they endured a frustrating second period in which they finished with more turnovers (8) than shot attempts (7). The Storm capitalized on those St. Charles North miscues to win the quarter 16-8 en route to a 25-18 halftime lead.
"They were all over us and their defense was outstanding," said North Stars junior Josh Mikes, who was held to 10 points and had 7 rebounds. "They sped us up and got us out of our game."
Said St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin: "They played good, hard defense with a lot of intensity. They were physical and dug in at every position. You have to earn points against a team like that and we didn't earn points tonight."
Three St. Charles North turnovers in four trips during the second quarter helped the Storm turn a 12-9 deficit into a 19-12 lead, a 10-0 run capped by junior Sam Sutter's 3-pointer from the left wing.
The North Stars stayed within 19-16, thanks to 4 straight free throws by senior Ryan Brown, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Sutter ballooned South Elgin's lead to 9.
In the third quarter the North Stars pulled as close as 27-24 on a putback by Mikes, but the Storm responded with a 12-3 run, a surge fueled once again by steals as St. Charles North turned the ball over 7 times in the first 4:40 of the period. Childs and Sheldon Chaney each scored a pair of baskets and senior forward Sam Jordt - back in action after missing three games with a concussion - added a fast break basket.
North Stars guard Chris Conrad scored all of his team-high 11 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough as his team attempted only 37 shots in the game.
"We didn't come with the fire we needed tonight," St. Charles North center Kyle Nelson said. "You can't come out with no intensity in a conference game on the road against a team with a good fan base like this."