South Elgin stymies St. Charles North

St. Charles North's Nick Neari and South Elgin's Alex Sanchez battle for the ball.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

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ST. CHARLES – South Elgin effectively crashed St. Charles North's party Friday.

The Storm went on the road and handed the North Stars a 70-64 Upstate Eight Conference defeat, likely ending North's hopes of earning a share of its first-ever league title.

Senior Jordan Dobler tallied 23 points to lead South Elgin (17-6, 6-2), which ran its winning streak to seven games. Senior Alex Sanchez added 16 points, including 11 during the Storm's 29-point outburst in the fourth quarter.

The loss is a bitter one for North (18-7, 7-2), which celebrated senior night before the contest. The North Stars also lost any psychological edge going into next month's DeKalb Class 4A Regional where the Storm is seeded No. 2 behind North, a point that wasn't lost on North coach Tom Poulin.

"South Elgin was the better basketball team tonight," Poulin said. "They played harder and that's the best team in our regional. You can throw the seeds out. They outplayed us, they outhustled us and I'm just disappointed."

Added Dobler: "It feels good to come out and see what they've got, especially since we most likely will see them in the regional. And it's always nice to spoil a senior night."

The separation between the teams wasn't great as evidenced by the 11 lead changes and eight ties. However, South Elgin grabbed the upper hand for good coming out of a timeout at the 3:31 mark in the fourth quarter when Sanchez buried a 3-pointer. After a defensive stop, Dobler added a bucket with 2:48 left to put the Storm up 57-54.

North remained within striking distance into the final minute. Nick Neari's two free throws with 57 seconds left pulled the North Stars within 62-60, but the Storm eventually pulled away by sinking 8 of 10 free throws in the final 42 seconds.

"It was a tough-fought ball game in the last four minutes," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "Whoever made plays, whoever came up and made key stops was going to win the game. Fortunately it was us in that situation."

South Elgin was without 6-foot-9 senior Dani Lopez, who was on crutches due to a strained ligament in his left foot he sustained last weekend against Libertyville. Taft said the Sacramento State-bound center should be back in time for the postseason.

In Lopez's absence the Storm was outrebounded 37-23. However, that statistic didn't loom nearly as large as North's 21-for-38 mark from the free-throw line. The North Stars also committed 17 turnovers while dishing out only eight assists, adding to Poulin's frustrations.

"We couldn't keep (South Elgin) out of the lane, we couldn't defend," Poulin said. "We didn't do too much the way we expect to do things. That's disappointing."

Neari paced the North Stars with a game-high 27 points to go along with five assists. Senior Jon DeMoss added 15 points before fouling out.

Jeff Lewis tallied 12 points for South Elgin. Sanchez matched Neari with five assists.

SOUTH ELGIN 70, ST. CHARLES NORTH 64

South Elgin (17-6, 6-2)

Dobler 10 3-4 23, Sanchez 3 9-12 16, Lewis 3 5-7 12, Osborne 2 0-0 6, Childs 3 0-0 6, Stade 1 2-4 4, Smith 1 1-1 3, Chaney 0 0-0 0, Jordt 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 18-26 70.

St. Charles North (18-7, 7-2)

Neari 8 10-12 27, DeMoss 5 5-6 15, Johnson 2 3-4 8, Hirsch 2 0-2 5, Kastel 2 0-4 4, Lefelstein 1 1-1 3, Mikes 0 1-5 1, Juriga 0 1-2 1, Pedersen 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 21-38 64.

South Elgin 10 18 13 29 -- 70

St. Charles North 17 14 11 22 -- 64

3-point goals: South Elgin (4): Osborne 2, Sanchez, Lewis. SC North (3): Neari, Johnson, Hirsch. Fouled out: South Elgin – None. SC North – DeMoss, Kastel. Technical fouls: South Elgin: None. SC North – DeMoss.