Schaumburg subdues St. Charles E.
Defensive-minded Schaumburg held St. Charles East to just 9 points over the middle two quarters on the way to a 53-37 victory over the host Saints (1-1) in Wednesday night’s second round of the Ron Johnson Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament in St. Charles.
After taking a 15-12 first-quarter lead, the Saxons (2-0) outscored the Saints 13-2 in the second period while extending their advantage to 28-14 at halftime.
Junior Kyle Bolger tallied 6 of his game-high 15 points in the second quarter, as the Saxons effectively kept the Saints to numerous one-and-done offensive possessions.
“The biggest thing is to come out with intensity,” said Bolger. “Our biggest keys are free throws, rebounds and turnovers. That’s what we focus on every game.”
Bolger, a 6-1 guard, also led the Saxons with 11 rebounds and 3 steals.
Schaumburg, which enjoyed a huge rebounding advantage (36-21), stretched its lead to as many as 20 points midway through the fourth quarter.
While the Saints were struggling from beyond the 3-point arc (6-of-20), the Saxons patiently worked the ball around before taking mostly high-percentage shots.
“I thought we played well defensively together and we finished off defensive possessions by rebounding the ball well,” said Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh. “We did a nice job tonight executing our offense and being patient.”
Junior Kendall Stephens paced the Saints with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, but was just 5-of-18 from the field while being hounded by Saxons guard Michael Mallett (15 points).
“I thought Michael did a great job guarding Kendall,” said Walsh. “Mike’s athletic, long and intelligent. He competed tonight.”
Dominic Adduci and Johnny Hondlik each added 8 points for the Saints, who shot just 31 percent from the field (14-of-45).
“I thought we kind of took ourselves out of what we wanted to do,” said Saints coach Patrick Woods. “I don’t think our effort was necessarily there tonight. We’ve been stressing rebounding and that kind of came back to plague us. If you don’t rebound, you can’t run.”
Schaumburg is now a win away from reaching Saturday’s championship game, while the Saints hope to regroup Friday night against St. Joseph (1-1).
“That’s a battle-tested team,” Woods said of Schaumburg. “They lost in the sectional finals last year by a point to Niles North and they brought back everyone except for one big kid. It was a good test. That is why this is a great tournament.”
In other tournament action, St. Charles North (1-1) jumped out to a 31-15 halftime lead on the way to a 59-46 victory over TF North (0-2).
Senior center Kyle Nelson finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocked shots, while Quinten Payne added 14 points and 7 boards before fouling out.
The teams combined to take 58 free-throw attempts, with the North Stars enjoying a 23-12 edge over the Meteors, who shot just 43 percent at the line (12-of-28).
Nicholas Wood led TF North with 14 points.
St. Charles North will take on Downers Grove South (1-1) Friday night. The Mustangs lost a 66-57 decision to Plainfield East (2-0) Wednesday despite a 16-point effort from Jamall Millison.