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Boys Basketball: St Charles North claims upset over Elgin
| Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: January 26, 2012 10:06PM
St. Charles North hasn’t had trouble hanging with quality opponents, but through the first two months of the season a signature win against a high-profile foe proved elusive.
The script finally changed for the North Stars on Thursday when they outplayed host No. 15 Elgin in the final four minutes and came away with a stunning 55-53 victory at Chesbrough Field House.
The outcome ends a streak of 12 consecutive victories for the Maroons. Meanwhile, St. Charles North (9-12, 5-2 Upstate Eight River) finally has back-to-back wins for the first time all season as the frustration of losses against highly-touted teams like Downers Grove South, Crane and Metea Valley fades into the background.
“We have played a lot of tough teams, but we just haven’t been able to close out,” St. Charles North’s Kyle Nelson said. “I guess it was about time we finally closed out and got a win against an extremely tough team. There’s nothing better than a nice conference away win in an environment like this.”
Nelson recorded one of his three blocks when he swatted a runner by Elgin’s Arie Williams in the final seconds to help preserve the North Stars victory. Nelson finished with 16 points and Loyola-bound junior Quinten Payne went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line and tallied with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds.
Kory Brown had a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds for the Maroons (16-2, 5-2), and his basket with 3:41 left put St. Charles North in a 49-43 hole. But the North Stars quickly cut the deficit in half when Tony Neari drained a three-pointer 12 seconds later.
Following a timeout, Neari came up with a huge steal on Elgin’s in-bounds pass near halfcourt. Moments later Nelson drew a foul and completed a three-point play to tie the score at 49 with 3:03 left.
Neari’s free throw with 1:56 left put St. Charles North ahead for good 50-49, and the North Stars got some breathing room when Nelson found teammate Michael Schroeder wide open under the basket for a layup with 1:09 left to make the score 52-49.
Elgin didn’t make a field goal in the final 3:30 while losing on its home court for the first time this season. The defeat drops the Maroons into a tie with St. Charles North for second in the UEC River behind division leader Geneva.
“(St. Charles North) made more plays late, and I thought we played tentative in the fourth quarter,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said.
Added Payne: “We started making some plays and we started stacking (defensive) stops on top of stops. That’s what really changed the game. It’s not anything on the scoring end. It all has to do with our defense.”
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