Tough schedule paying off for St. Charles East

Records can be deceiving.

Take the St. Charles East boys basketball team, for example.

Heading into last Saturday's showcase matchup against 19-win West Aurora at Batavia, the Saints were hovering at .500, partly because "this is by far toughest schedule we've ever played," coach Pat Woods explained. "Our schedule is a bear."

Fired up after an upset loss the previous night at Glenbard North, the Saints rebounded, literally and figuratively against West Aurora.

Senior Cody Mitchell scored 22 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, senior Mark Musial scored 22 points and senior Nate Ortiz scored 17 points as the Saints knocked off the No. 1-ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20. The Blackhawks had won 10 straight.

The victory improved the Saints to 12-11. They followed up Tuesday with a 53-48 home win against Wheaton Warrenville South to move to 13-11 overall, 5-4 in league play. That's good for third place in the DuKane Conference behind Geneva (21-1, 8-1) and Wheaton North (14-8, 7-2).

"I'm really happy with the way we've banded together," Mitchell said on Tuesday.

The victory over West Aurora was not the first quality win of the season for St. Charles East. On December 26, the Saints defeated North Suburban Conference leader Stevenson (17-3). They knocked off Willowbrook (12-9) twice at separate tournaments.

The only unexpected loss for St. Charles East was last Friday's 60-57 setback at Glenbard North (3-16, 1-8). Otherwise, its losses have been inflicted by opponents that have won 74 percent of their combined games: Proviso East (16-7), Geneva (21-1), Benet Academy (17-6), Wheaton Warrenville South (15-8), Waukegan (20-4), DePaul Prep (14-7), St. Rita (17-7), Glenbard West (16-5), Romeoville (14-6) and Wheaton North. Five of those teams lead their respective conferences.

Battle-tested St. Charles East could be a difficult team to handle come March, thanks to multiple weapons. Ortiz paces the offense with 16.1 points per game, fueled by 38-percent shooting from 3-point range (57 of 148) and 85 percent from the free-throw line (87 of 102).

Concentrate on Ortiz too much and it opens things up for the 6-foot-7 Mitchell, who averages 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Musial, a 6-foot-5 forward, contributes 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds.

"It helps having more playmakers out there," Mitchell said. "When we're all firing on all cylinders, it's tough to stop."

The players hope to continue building off the momentum from the West Aurora win.

"I really think that game set the tone from what we want to do the rest of the year: play with energy and have all five players involved and on the same page," Musial said. "I really think that carried over to (Tuesday) and I hope it will in the future."

And down the stretch they come: Burlington Central senior Patrick Mayfield continues to lead the Fox Valley area in scoring heading into the final month of the regular season.

The 6-foot-5 senior, who recently said he is leaning toward playing for a junior college next year, scored a career-best 42 points against Genoa-Kingston on Nov. 23 and has threatened that mark several times since.

"I've hit 39, 38, 37 and 36 this year," Mayfield said. "I'm not trying to do it. It just happens."

Central's high scorer has been efficient. He shoots 50 percent on 2-point attempts (150 of 298), 44 percent from 3-point range (57 of 130) and 83 percent from the free-throw line (152 of 183). He also averages 7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals.

Double-doublers: A pair of 6-foot-7 seniors are on track to finish the regular season averaging a double-double.

Streamwood senior Keenon Cole, a Northern Illinois recruit, scores 24.8 points and grabs 10.1 points per game. He averaged 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds last season.

South Elgin senior Vincent Miszkiewicz averages 19.2 points per game. He leads the area with 12.7 rebounds per game, up from 12.3 as a junior.

Helping out: No area player puts his teammates in position to succeed better than Geneva point guard Jack McDonald.

The 5-foot-11 senior broke his school's record for assists last season and has not let up. He enters February averaging an area-best 5.4 assists per game, not to mention 16.3 points.