St. Charles East can't catch Lake Park
Lake Park coach Josh Virostko pulled senior Dominique Spencer aside at school on Thursday with some special news. The three-year starter was 6 points away from 1,000 in his varsity career.
Spencer got those 6 points and plenty more. His game-high 24 points headed a sterling Lancers effort in a 70-58 win over St. Charles East in the third-place game of the Upstate Eight Conference crossover series Thursday in St. Charles.
What's it take to score 1,000 points in high school?
"Hard work, you know?" said Spencer, who reached the magic number on a putback late in the first half. He followed that with dribble penetration and a kick out pass to Zach Wagner, who buried a 3 from the right wing for a 35-29 Lancers halftime lead.
"Just keep going at it, never quit," continued the 6-foot-4 forward. "I was surprised when he told me, and I came out here and played hard, and I got it."
Lake Park (18-8) displayed outstanding marksmanship, making 23 of 39 field goal attempts (59 percent), 7 of 11 from 3-point range. The Lancers sank 17 of 18 free throws led by 6-of-6 efforts from both Spencer and Dave Prentis, who added 15 points and three 3-pointers. Wagner scored 13 and all eight of the players Virostko sent in scored.
"When we shoot well usually we're tough to beat," the coach said.
Yet the final score was not indicative of how close St. Charles East (14-12) played throughout. Despite chasing forever after Johnny Hondlik's lane jumper tied the score 21-21 early in the second quarter, the Saints remained within 60-56 with 2:06 left in the game.
"It was pretty much a six-point game throughout the entire game and we had opportunities to cut it to five, cut it to three, cut it to two, but we just couldn't turn the corner," said Saints coach Patrick Woods.
Out of a full-court press and half-court trap, steals by fast-fingered Saints Dom Adduci and Charlie Fisher helped forced 6 fourth-quarter turnovers until the last 1:37 when Lake Park marched to the foul line, not to miss.
Fisher, the three-year varsity guard whose 12 points followed Adduci's 20 and were just over Kendall Stephens' 10, saw the crossover matchup as an overall positive heading into the Class 4A playoff opener against rival St. Charles North.
"They're physical teams over there (in the Upstate Eight Valley), so playing tough and rough against Lake Park will get us ready for North, show that we have to play hard."