Confident St. Charles North tops South Elgin

When St. Charles North plays confident basketball, it is a tough team to stop.

Tess Fischer's 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter of the North Stars' game at South Elgin gave North its needed confidence kick-start.

Fischer's bucket was 1 of 5 straight for the North Stars, who turned a 42-38 third-quarter lead into a 54-38 advantage during the first 4 minutes of the fourth period. Overwhelmed, South Elgin was never able to recover as North took a 57-46 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory in South Elgin Friday night.

"It built confidence in our team," said Fischer, who led all players with 16 points. "That got us off to a good start."

Kate Booe scored twice, Fischer added another basket and Jenna Bell (7 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals) completed a 3-point play to put North (12-5, 3-2) up 54-38 with 4:04 left in the game. The North Stars went 6 of 7 from the floor in the final period after shooting just 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from the floor in the third quarter to allow South Elgin (7-10, 1-4) to stay in the game, despite shooting troubles of its own.

"It went from a close game to a 10-point game in a hurry," Storm coach Tim Prendergast said. "We went through a stretch where we couldn't buy a bucket. In a game like this, you have to give yourself second and third chances."

While North was on fire during the opening minutes of the final period, the Storm missed its first 10 shots from the floor and did not hit a field goal until Dijon Smith (8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks) cut the North Stars' lead to 54-40 with 3:20 left to play.

Fischer's 3-pointer in the 4th quarter was her first field goal since going off for 11 points in the first period. The junior forward, who added 6 rebounds and 6 assists, jacked three 3-pointers to give North a 18-14 lead after the opening quarter.

"She had a huge game," North Stars' coach Colleen Brennan said. "She's a great outside shooter, but she has a delayed drive that she can beat you with. (The 3-pointer in the fourth quarter) was a huge boost."

South Elgin was able to keep pace as Becca Smith poured in 8 points in the first quarter going 4 of 5 from the floor. The following quarter, Becca Smith got a heavy dose of North point guard Kiley Hackbarth face guarding her and did not hit another field goal until making back-to-back buckets in the third quarter to cut North's lead to 37-35. She finished the game shooting 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from the floor.

Becca Smith did lead South Elgin with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Hackbarth finished with 14 points and 5 assists for North, which also got a double-double from Dana Sibley (14 points, 12 rebounds).