For junior center Kyle King, it’s always face forward, even if his back is often to the basket.
The determined King rarely gets deterred from St. Charles North’s task at hand, whether it’s overcoming the loss of a key teammate before the season began or recovering from a tough loss to rival St. Charles East.
“For us, it’s all about getting the ball inside, knowing that our inside-out game is working and making it possible for our shooters to do their job,” King said.
The 6-foot-5 King leads St. Charles North (14-6, 6-3) in scoring with a 12.9-point average and ranks fourth among Elgin-area rebounders at 10.0 per game.
After playing with the varsity last year, King expected to team inside this season with 6-5 Griffin Hammer. It never occurred because Hammer received a football scholarship to play tight end at Colorado State and opted for spring enrollment.
Hammer’s loss was softened by King’s rapid development and the presence of 6-4 junior Cade Callaghan.
“I’ve been playing with him forever,” King said of Callaghan. “I’ve always known what he’s capable of doing and can count on him.”
The North Stars ran their record to a surprising 11-2 before the schedule toughened. The key for King, Callaghan and post Nathan Bruns has been playing within the system.
“We have to play through our bigs,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “We always play inside out.
“It doesn’t mean Kyle and the other big guys are always scoring, but they’re all unselfish guys. They can score inside, but they’re all good passers who understand our system well and look for the shooters on the perimeter.”
Unbeaten Geneva quickly removed the drama from the Upstate Eight River race. Losses to Geneva, St. Charles East and Batavia failed to diminish the North Stars’ belief they can challenge in postseason.
“This has been a good couple weeks for us to continue to improve against good teams,” Poulin said. “We’re in a good mind going forward.”
It’s a mindset of being young and improving. North starts only one senior, guard Anthony Delisi.
“We’re confident,” King said. “We believe we can beat any team out there as long as we keep rebounding and playing defense.
“Going into next year I’m excited for it. But I’m excited for the end of this year, too, because we have all the pieces we need to get where we want to.”
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Wild River ride: Unless something unexpected happens, Burlington Central’s chance to win the first Kishwaukee River Conference title appears to hinge on a Feb. 14 game at Marengo.
But after Woodstock upset Marengo and Richmond-Burton won 56-48 Thursday at Burlington, the unexpected appears normal for this conference.
Burlington (19-3, 5-2), Richmond-Burton and Marengo all have two conference losses.
“The thing is, we have to take care of business,” Rockets coach Brett Porto said.
Porto thinks the toughness guards Ta Vontae Harris and Emmanuel Wells show can benefit Burlington in a close race.
“We’re going to go through games and moments that are going to be tight and they’ve had the mentality to fight through,” Porto said.
Cole stoked: Reggie Cole’s return on Jan. 30 from illness fortified Elgin (12-12), although he isn’t scoring yet like last season when he led the Maroons.
“He’s got to get his legs and his conditioning back,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “He can play in short spurts. It’s another body for us, at least. If somebody is having a bad game we can go to Reggie and see what he gives us.”
Cole had nine points Saturday in a 68-51 loss to Naperville North. His output increased each of the last two games.
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