Senechalle sparks Saints

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STREAMWOOD -- Trailing 21-20 late in the second quarter Thursday against Streamwood, Kevin Senechalle and the St. Charles East Saints made a decision.

The best 1-11 team in the state didn't want to become the best 1-12 team in the state.

The Saints closed the half with a lightning-like six-point swing and rode Senechalle's 28 total points and 17 rebounds to a 65-54 Upstate Eight Conference victory.

"We just decided we're going to get another win," Senechalle said after the Saints won their second straight. "This is only our second win and we decided it's time for us to go, and we're going to keep on going from here on out."

The 6-foot-7 senior led the way with 17 of his points in the second half. His aggressive play at the defensive end -- four shot blocks -- also had an impact as the Sabres had to stay on the perimeter all night and made only 21-of-59 from the floor (36 percent).

"He's a feature player and we try to get him the ball, and the good thing is he knows what to do with it when he gets doubled and tripled," said Saints coach Brian Clodi. "He's our heart and soul right now, our anchor.

"I've got to give the team a lot of credit. They've bought into playing through Kev. It's easy to get selfish and this team hasn't. We just play off him."

Senechalle's putback and free throw completed a three-point play, then he fed Zach Scott for a 3-point shot at the buzzer after a Streamwood turnover for a 26-21 Saints halftime lead.

St. Charles East, which made 14-of-21 from the field in the second half (66 percent), started the first five minutes of the third quarter outscoring the Sabres 10-4 for a 36-25 lead, and Jess Striedl's four points let the Saints close the quarter up 44-31.

It turned into a blowout midway through the fourth quarter at 58-37 on back-to-back Senechalle buckets before guard Tem Esikiel led a late rush to get the Sabres as close as 62-54 in the final minute.

"We have progressively gotten better on defense," said Clodi after his team improved to 1-2 in the UEC. "It was 32 minutes of bring-it St. Charles East basketball and I'm so proud of this group for hanging in and fighting."

Tim Russell added 15 points to the Saints' cause, while Esikiel had 25 for the Sabres -- including 14 in the fourth quarter. Marcus Lewis put down 11 for Streamwood.

"We just have to shoot the ball better," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "We usually shoot better from outside. Tonight they gave us the outside and we've got to hit those."

The Sabres (5-10, 0-4) missed all nine second-half 3-point tries.

"The kids' effort was there," Jones said. "I can't be upset about their effort.

"They're (St. Charles East) a good team that plays physical and is much better than their record."