St. Charles East turns tables on North
Perhaps there's something to the notion that you can learn something in defeat.
After allowing St. Charles North sophomore center Liz McNally to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds during the North Stars' 51-44 victory over St. Charles East last month, the Saints used a little different defensive strategy Friday night.
The plan paid dividends, as the Saints (13-11, 6-5) limited McNally to 9 points and 7 rebounds and forced 19 first-half turnovers on the way to a 48-32 Upstate Eight Conference River Division triumph over the visiting North Stars (7-17, 6-4).
"We changed our defense a little bit," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "We tried to take away what they hurt us with earlier in the season, and I think we did a nice job of that.
"They (North Stars) were just getting the ball in to her (McNally) way too easily the last time and she was effective from the free-throw line as well. This time, we played more of a matchup zone and put more pressure on the ball."
Sophomore guard Amanda Hilton had 7 points and 6 of the Saints' 18 steals, while junior backcourt mate Paige Jordan added a game-high 17 points and 4 steals.
"We got a lot of steals on the top tonight and we had a lot of tipped passes," said Drumtra. "We've got two players who are 6-foot-tall with long wingspans in Jordan (Shead) and Kyra (Washington), and I think we're finally taking advantage of that."
Morgan Vyzral (7 points, 5 rebounds) scored 4 straight points to ignite a 14-0 run by the Saints that turned a 14-8 lead into a commanding 28-8 advantage with 1:30 left before halftime. St. Charles East led 32-14 at the intermission.
"When we watched our first North game (on film), it was embarrassing," admitted Jordan. "It was like, one pass shot, one pass shot. Tonight, we made three, four, five passes, and we got great looks. We scored 32 points in the first half, which is huge for us."
It turned into a long night for the North Stars, who managed just 4 first-half field goals and struggled throughout with their outside shooting.
"We were 0-for-14 from the 3-point line, which obviously isn't very helpful," said St. Charles North coach Colleen Brennan, "and they (Saints) had somewhere between 25 and 30 extra possessions.
"Overall, we did work hard and we did adjust in the second half but we had a hard time scoring. We had a difficult time handling the ball, passing the ball, and making good decisions. But give a lot of credit to St. Charles East. They came out to play and they played well."
Washington, a freshman, contributed 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots to the cause, as the Saints beat their cross-town rivals for the first time since February, 2009, when St. Charles East scored a 41-37 overtime upset of then top-seeded St. Charles North in the Class 4A regional championship at South Elgin.
It was St. Charles East's first regular-season win over the North Stars since 2006.
"It has been a very long time," said Drumtra.