Johnson, St. Charles North look to defend regional championship

When can one and one equal three?

Believe me, I'm no mathematician but even I know that isn't possible - with a notable exception.

It is when you're talking about St. Charles North senior David Johnson, who wears No. 11 and is one of the area's top 3-point shooters this season.

Johnson, who canned 33 3-point baskets (ranking second on the team) coming off the bench as the North Stars' sixth man a year ago, has connected on a team-leading 41 3-pointers (1.5 per game) in a starting role this season.

Those numbers aren't too shabby for a guy who didn't start a single game as a seventh- or eighth-grade basketball player attending Haines Middle School.

"I pretty much rode the bench," admitted Johnson. "But I practiced a lot during that summer and I also grew a couple inches prior to my freshman year."

Standing 6-foot tall (with his best posture) and weighing "150 pounds soaking wet" according to North Stars coach Tom Poulin, Johnson isn't what I would call an imposing figure on a basketball court.

But don't let his lean body type fool you - he's a powerful force for the North Stars, who begin Class 4A regional tournament action Wednesday night against host Bartlett.

"I definitely wish I could have a body like Josh Mikes," Johnson said of his muscular junior teammate. "But I don't so I just try to the best I can with what I have."

"He's stronger than he looks," said Poulin. "I always use one word when talking about David - fearless.

"I saw it when we first jumped into our practices last season and watched how he battled. We actually thought as a coaching staff that he'd get mostly JV minutes but the way he practiced demanded that we play him last year."

Playing alongside an experienced group of seniors that included Nick Neari, Jonathon DeMoss, Jake Juriga, Zach Hirsch, Mike Lefelstein and Mike Kastel, Johnson averaged 5.3 points per game as the North Stars established a single-season victory mark at 22-9 and captured their second regional championship.

"Last year, I looked up to all of the other leaders we had," said Johnson. "They told me, 'if I had an open shot, take it.'

"It was a lot easier last year when we had guys like Nick and Jon driving the lane, leaving me open. With the players we had, teams didn't key on me."

As the most experienced senior on the roster, Johnson has faced different challenges this season.

"Now I'm asked to be a leader," he said. "I worked hard on my game during the off-season because I knew I'd have to do more things this season."

"He knew his role would be different so he spent hours working on his ballhandling, driving and slashing," said Poulin. "He's had to adjust because he wasn't going to surprise anybody this year - opponents know who he is."

Johnson is averaging 10 points per game this season and heads into tourney play on a positive note.

He scored 21 points with four 3-pointers and grabbed 8 rebounds in the North Stars' home finale win over Burlington Central and added 11 points on three 3-pointers in last month's victory over Jacobs at Batavia's Night of Hoops.

"David has been very productive," said Poulin. "Just the fact that he's out there opens things up for Chris (Conrad), Beau (Blakeley) and others."

Johnson is proud of his team's 16-11 record.

"Losing eight seniors, a lot of people doubted us this year," said Johnson, who is a 3-time tennis sectional doubles champion and state qualifier who hopes to play both basketball and tennis at a Division III school next year. "Most people predicted we'd finish around or below .500 but we're 16-11 and we've played a tough schedule."

This past week, Johnson received some extra support as he prepared his teammates for postseason play.

"Some of the guys from last year (Neari, DeMoss, Hirsch, Lefelstein, Juriga) sent e-mails telling us to play as hard as we can and that we're the defending regional champs," said Johnson.

"There was a common theme in the e-mails telling the seniors that 'this is your time to extend the season,'" said Poulin.

Last March, the North Stars reached the Elgin sectional title game before losing a 51-49 thriller to Dundee-Crown.

"I still think about that game last year," said Johnson, who just missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. "I'm going to watch that game before our first playoff game and remind myself the feeling I had last year and how awful it was."

No matter the outcome this time around, Poulin knows he can count on Johnson.

"Defensively and offensively there's nothing that he backs down from," said the coach. "And he's one of the more mentally focused kids I've been around. Before and after games, he keeps an even keel.

"He's a special young man."

You can reach Craig Brueske at csb4k@hotmail.com