St. Charles North switched starting lineups Friday to solidify a struggling defense.
Junior forward Erik Larson made sure it worked, but with some timely offense as well.
Larson came off the bench for six key points in a decisive run and St. Charles North’s defense recovered from two subpar efforts to stymie host Elgin in a 47-32 Upstate Eight River victory.
“Today was my first day coming off the bench,” Larson said. “And I just felt that it was my role to give us a spark on the offensive and defensive ends because in the past few games we’ve been coming up short.”
The 6-foot-3 Larson was replaced in the starting lineup by defensive ace Tyler Nubin.
Larson accepted the new role. After Elgin closed within 24-22, he came on to hit a 3-pointer and convert a three-point play during a 14-0 run starting with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
“We told the guys a couple days ago whoever gets out there and defends at a high level is going to play,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “We were looking for a different energy defensively, and Tyler gave us that.
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“Erik is a good player and teammate having a good season, and he does what we need to have done.”
The North Stars (14-5, 6-3) also received big plays from other bench players in beating Elgin (12-11, 3-7), including three points in the third quarter from Brendan Dal Degan and three in the second quarter by Nathan Bruns.
“We have great role players on this team and everyone comes to play,” Larson said.
St. Charles North struggled with 15 turnovers in the first half, but still kept Elgin in check for a 22-13 halftime lead.
“Twelve turnovers is usually our target for an entire game,” Larson said.
The North Stars then started the second half with one more turnover, but it all changed a few minutes later with their 14-0 run spanning two quarters.
St. Charles North’s inside combination of Kyle King and Cade Callaghan made it tough on 6-8 center Courtese Cooper of Elgin. Callaghan contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, while King added nine points and 11 rebounds.
“For (Cooper) to get different types of players to guard, it was hard for him to adjust,” King said.
Cooper and Reggie Cole led Elgin with seven points each. Cooper also blocked four shots while pulling in 13 rebounds.
Elgin couldn’t overcome shooting 23 percent (12-for-52), and eventually its own strong defense disintegrated.
“We set basketball back about 100 years today,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “I thought I was going to see Dr. Naismith holding a peach basket.
“It’s just a shame because we just played our best basketball game of the year on Tuesday against Batavia — put four quarters together with a 10-man rotation.”
Sitter thought the Maroons’ offensive frustration contributed to the North Stars’ big run.
“You get a little demoralized playing good defense when you can’t put the ball in the hole,” Sitter said.
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