The drill is getting to be routine for junior forward Cade Callaghan and St. Charles North.
It was just another game down to the wire. Ho hum.
Callaghan sneaked free in the closing minute Friday twice for layups and rallied St. Charles North to a 58-56 victory over Larkin in an Upstate Eight River home game.
“When we play good teams like Larkin and in a lot of Upstate Eight Conference games, it’s nice to come back at the end of those and it boosts our confidence to get those wins,” Callaghan said.
The 6-foot-4 Callaghan scored nine points in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 14 to help the North Stars (13-3, 5-1) overcome an eight-point lead by Larkin (8-9, 2-4).
St. Charles North improved to 5-1 in games decided by two points or less. North Stars coach Tom Poulin lauded his team’s ability to play through pressure-packed situations and joked his input wasn’t needed.
“They made a couple play calls that worked and got us some layups,” Poulin said. “That’s great when you have players on the floor who can manage a game.”
Callaghan scored six points as St. Charles North unleashed a 13-4 spurt in the last 3:18. He slid free for a pass by Anthony Delisi with 41 seconds left to cut Larkin’s lead to 56-55.
After Larkin’s Kashmir Ivy missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, Callaghan worked open again for a perfect back-door pass from Kyle King with 20 seconds left to put the North Stars ahead for good.
“I was just talking to my teammates during timeouts, trying to get them to get me the ball,” Callaghan said. “If (defenders) were grinding me, then I’d screen for someone else to get anyone open — whatever it takes to win this game.”
Ivy’s corner 3-pointer rimmed away, and North’s Luke Scheffers added a free throw with one second remaining.
“We’ve been in that situation,” Delisi said. “I felt confident in our team that we’re going to play composed and not make crucial mistake down the stretch.”
Ivy scored 15 points, Jalen Shaw added 13 and Kindrel Morris 12 for Larkin. But the Royals’ main weapon was the press.
North committed 11 turnovers over the second and third quarters. Larkin led 33-31 at halftime after a 9-0 run to close the second quarter, and expanded the lead to 47-39 after three quarters.
“Up by eight going into the fourth quarter, we’ve got to win that one,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said.
When guard Anthony Lynch fouled out with 2:51 remaining, Larkin had to close without its best all-around player.
“We’d like to have him on the court at the end for obvious reasons,” Carter said of Lynch. “So we were definitely trying to cut and piece some things together. We had enough on the court at the end to get it done.
“We’ve just got to communicate a little better on the defensive end. We gave up two layups down the stretch. That just can’t happen.”
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