Boys Basketball: St Charles North takes down rival St Charles East

Updated: February 8, 2012 10:26PM

Kyle Nelson didn’t hesitate to describe Wednesday’s 54-48 victory at St. Charles East.

“It’s just awesome,” the senior big man said after St. Charles North (12-13) claimed the rubber match of the year against the North Stars’ foe in a cross-town rivalry contest that had impressive runs, great dunks, spirited fans and major implications for a possible Upstate Eight River title.

The victory boosts North to 8-3 heading into a crucial rematch with a Geneva ballclub that just snapped the North Stars’ four-game win streak. East (12-9, 7-4) beat its rival back in the Saints’ Thanksgiving tournament to end a seven-game losing streak to North. However, the North Stars claimed the January league meeting at their place, which sent East into a four-game tailspin.

The Saints ended that and brought a four-match win streak into Wednesday and started strong with 17-8 first-quarter lead.

However, Quinten Payne scored eight of his game-high 20 points during a second-quarter comeback that vaulted North into a 29-24 halftime lead.

“That really had more to do with my teammates,” Payne said. “They got me easy looks. We struggled some at the start and coach told us to let the game come to us and that’s what we all did.”

North coach Tom Poulin was more relieved than anything after the contest.

“Our No. 1 key was defensive attention, but we didn’t start the game that way,” Poulin admitted. “Give (East) credit, they ran some nice sets to seal Quinten off from (Kendall) Stephens. I was also proud of the contributions we got off the bench, plus this is a confident group. I think they were real disappointed with the Geneva game and just considered it a one-game tailspin.”

North owned a 41-35 advantage heading into the final eight minutes and got the first bucket of the fourth frame before the Saints rallied and got their fans into full throat with a Stephens dunk that was part of an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 43-40.

A breakaway layup and the follow-up free throw by Stephens got East to within a bucket, 45-43, but that’s when Nelson got a couple crucial baskets as part of his 12-point performance to give the North Stars a cushion. After making his first six free throws of the contest, Payne stunned the North fans with six straight misses late in the game, but maintained his sense of humor after the win.

“Just trying to keep it interesting for the crowd,” the junior guard noted.

With East unable to capitalize based on turnovers or missed three-point attempts, the North Stars hung on for the win.

Stephens, who had 16 and 14 in the previous meetings, had a team-high 19 backed up by 14 from Domini Aducci and nine from Johnny Hondlik in a losing effort.

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