St. Charles North Needs To Battle To Beat Geneva

Paul Johnson The Courier News- St. Charles North’s boys basketball team was feeling sky high after nearly knocking off four-time defending state champion Simeon at the Pontiac Tournament last week.

But the reality is that the North Stars finished the tournament with two straight losses before a long layoff preceding Friday’s Upstate Eight River showdown with Geneva, the champions of East Aurora’s holiday tournament.

North got back on track with a rugged 64-57 win that saw the North Stars overcome a five-point third quarter deficit and pull away for the win.

“(The Simeon loss) gave us a tremendous amount of confidence and we took it into tonight,” North forward Jack Callaghan said. “Conference rival, it’s a big win. They hate us, we hate them. That’s our mentality and I think it showed out there.

“We needed a win after two straight losses, so it was a good way to start conference play back up.”

North (8-5, 4-1) used a 12-0 run late in the second quarter to help take a 32-28 lead into the break. But Geneva (13-4, 3-3) came out strong in the third quarter. A 14-5 run to start the second half gave the Vikings a 42-37 lead.

But North climbed back into it behind an unlikely source. North coach Tom Poulin calls Callaghan his “glue guy,” but he has been struggling with his jump shot all season. With Geneva focusing its attention on hot-shooting guards Alec Goetz and Jake Ludwig, Callaghan found himself open and caught fire.

He hit a pair of threes late in the third quarter to give North a 45-44 lead. The North Stars then started the fourth off with a 10-5 run to extend the lead to 58-51.

“We really simplified the game with a high pick-and-roll and they were leaving Jack because they were hedging and he was making his shots,” Poulin said. “Then he was making his shots and they weren’t leaving, so we told Alec or whoever came off that screen to attack and either finish or penetrate and kick. That was a little bit of a difference.”

Geneva hung around thanks to some offensive rebounds off of missed free throws, cutting the lead to 59-57. The Vikings had a shot at tying the game in the final minute, but missed a three-pointer. Goetz then hit 5-of-6 from the line in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.

“It came down to this, who imposed their will upon whom,” Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. “By and large, their guards, which we said was one of the keys to this game, do not let Goetz and Ludwig have their way with you and they pretty much did.”

Goetz led all scorers with 18 points for North. Callaghan added 16 points and Ludwig scored 13. Justin Durante and Nate Navigato each scored 14 points to lead Geneva. Chris Parrilli scored 11 points off the bench and Pace Temple added 10.

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