St. Charles East pulls away from Streamwood late
St. Charles East coach Pat Woods has a simple description for how senior forward Chase Monkemeyer plays on the court.
"I always like to say Chase does a great job of playing within himself," Woods said following St. Charles East's 74-62 victory over Streamwood on Tuesday. "He doesn't try to do too much ... he'll get his points in bunches. He's not forcing shots; he's not taking bad shots. That's why he shoots so well from the field."
Monkemeyer shot 9-of-15 from the field to lead the Saints with 20 points. The 6-foot-4 forward reserved some of his best work for last, scoring nine in the fourth quarter.
Monkemeyer took a page out of his coach's own characterizations when evaluating his start to his senior season.
"I try to play within myself," Monkemeyer said. "Play with my teammates; we find each other very well. We have 10 guys that can go out there and score 20 a game. We just try to play with each other well."
That collective teamwork began to break through on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter. Despite 23 turnovers in the game, the Saints (4-2) found a way to pull away.
Tied 59-59 with 4:50 left, Streamwood (2-4) took a brief lead on a 3-pointer by Zach Marquez. But Monkemeyer responded with a 3 of his own to tie it back up. Saints senior guard Thomas Ditsworth hit a layup, converted the three-point play, and Scott Breidigan nailed a 3 to give the Saints a 68-62 advantage with 3:35 left.
Saints teammates Jack Settle and Zack Clodi each split a pair of free throws before Monkemeyer hit a layup to go up 10 with 1:40 left. Streamwood finally broke its scoreless spell with 1:04 left when Marquez split two free throws.
Streamwood finished 11-for-37 from the 3-point line, while East was 6-for-19.
"Turnovers, some offensive rebounds by them (and) we just couldn't make a shot (late in the fourth quarter)," Streamwood coach Kent Payne said. "We were up 62-59 ... turned it over, (and) that was the floodgates for some reason ... we just went stone cold."
Ditsworth finished with 15 points and three rebounds for the Saints, and continues to improve in his upstart senior season. Ditsworth has evolved from a one-time B-team player as a freshman, earning scant varsity minutes last year, to contributing each night this year.
"Thomas has been great," Woods said. "His energy level has been great. He's been great from the start. He was 6-of-8 from the field (tonight) ... lot of energy; very smart."
"Energy, big boards; he just plays hard," Monekemeyer said of Ditsworth.
Breidigan had 11 points and three rebounds, while Clodi had eight points to cap off a strong Saints performance. Aidan Sullivan and Jack Settle added muscle inside with six and five rebounds, respectively.
Streamwood was paced by Marquez's 17 points, while Darrel Luce had 13 points and seven rebounds. Jakobe Strong finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
"I've been here at East nine years now, and to me, that's the hardest they've ever played," Woods said of Streamwood. "(Payne) has got them in the right direction. They bought into the style of play ... he's got them playing really hard."