St. Charles East finds its focus, downs Elgin

The St. Charles East girls basketball team might have been looking past Elgin on Friday night in anticipation of today's matchup with St. Charles North.

But it took about 5 minutes for the Saints to focus on the Maroons.

East missed its first 4 shots, committed 4 turnovers and trailed 5-3 before going on an 11-0 run to take control. The Saints cruised the rest of the way and beat Elgin, 59-26, in an Upstate Eight Conference game at Chesbrough Field House.

"We talked about that. I said, 'I don't need to tell you that you have to get the job done tonight,' " East coach Lori Drumtra said. "But you can't help it. It's such a big game for them."

The Saints (12-8, 6-0) host their crosstown rival today, looking to stay unbeaten in the Upstate Eight. St. Charles North is 14-7 overall and 4-2 in the Upstate Eight after defeating Larkin on Friday.

"We've been scouting North, but you have to take it game by game," East senior Jaime Rust said.

Briana Hamilton's jumper with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter gave Elgin (1-20, 1-6) the 5-3 lead. The Maroons scored just one more point in the quarter and turned the ball over 11 times in the first.

Rust tied the game at 5-5. Then Danielle Jordan and Rust hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Kala Sigona added a 3-point play with 50.4 seconds left as the Saints took a 14-5 lead.

"We calmed down and got into our own game," Rust said.

Steph Roan scored 7 points and Lexi Baltes added 6 in the second quarter as East led 31-9 at the break. The Saints then scored the first 11 points of the third to open up a 42-9 advantage.

The Saints led by as many 35 in the second half. Baltes scored 13 points to lead East. Baltes needs 14 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Sigona added 9 points. Danille Jordan had 8 off the bench. Rust and Roan each finished with 7 points.

Hamilton, a sophomore, led the Maroons with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

"She got into a good rhythm," Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said. "She's pretty good on the left side of the basket in the power box. That's kind of her spot."