St. Charles East can't keep up with East Aurora

Having scratched and clawed all season to stay in games that perhaps on paper it shouldn't have, St. Charles East's boys basketball team finally met its match Friday night.

East Aurora ran St. Charles East out of the Tomcats' famed gym, building a 30-point lead in the third quarter before settling for a 74-53 victory.

Saints coach Brian Clodi refused to get too discouraged about what he said is the first game all year that his team didn't have a chance to win in the fourth quarter.

"Didn't make or break our season," Clodi said. "We're all glad we have another game tomorrow night (against Batavia). These kids have fought, they have been in every game. You have to give all the credit to East Aurora."

East Aurora (15-9, 7-2) celebrated its hall of fame night by lighting up the scoreboard on 54 percent shooting from the field. Ryan Boatright, Snoop Viser and Tramell Weathersby combined for 62 points.

"We've been away for five or six games," Viser said. "It was hall of fame night so we wanted to put on a show for the people who came back."

St. Charles East (12-12, 4-5) stayed close through the first four minutes, pulling within 12-9 on the first of Zack Burns' five 3-pointers. Long-distance shooting was a bright spot for the Saints, who hit 6 of 11 in the first half before cooling off a bit in the second half to finish 11 of 27.

Unfortunately for the Saints, East Aurora also has a couple players with range. Viser's long 3 ignited a 15-3 East Aurora burst.

Boatright also hit a 3 in the run. He also was half of the play of the game with his alley-oop pass to Viser who in one motion flew in, caught the ball in his right hand and slammed it home.

"We always do that in practice so it ain't nothing new," Viser said.

The Saints turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter to help fuel East Aurora's transition game.

"When they got on a run, with how packed the gym is, a lot of things get lost in translation with how loud the gymnasium is," Burns said. "The momentum really picks up."

Down 27-15 after the first quarter, the Saints cut the lead to 9 points twice in the second quarter before Viser's 5 unanswered points put the Tomcats up 41-28 at halftime.

Viser and Boatright combined for 31 of East Aurora's 41 first-half points. Boatright finished with 24 points, 6 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Viser added 19 points. Both juniors hit three 3-pointers.

"Coming into a game when you design everything you do to limit their touches, we let them get off," Clodi said. "That's where we lost the game. We didn't make it hard enough on them to get their points."

After a quiet first half, Weathersby got going with 11 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Tomcats stretched their lead to as much as 62-32 before Burns' three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter made the final margin closer.

Burns, playing with his non-shooting left hand taped after a fall last Saturday against Lake Zurich, led the Saints with 15 points.

"I liked it better as a guide hand," Burns said of the tape. "The second half I felt we needed something to get back into it.

"We'll be ready to go against them (Batavia). The speed we played against tonight will help prepare us."

Colton Kumerow, coming off a career-high 18 points, scored 12 of his 14 points Friday in the first half. Jess Striedl added 10.

"He's (Kumerow) lights out for the 3 right now, making good decisions, playing good defense," said Clodi.