ST. CHARLES – The latest St. Charles North loss in the DuKane Conference was tough to stomach for boys basketball coach Tom Poulin.
Wheaton North overcame a near-disastrous free-throw shooting performance in the final moments, as Connor Haake delivered two free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining.
Then the game ended in a bizarre fashion.
St. Charles North needed a 3-pointer to force overtime, but its final player to score drove the paint and scored an uncontested layup.
With no timeouts remaining, the clock expired, giving the Falcons a 34-33 victory.
“We’ll just leave it at that,” Poulin said of his player evidently not knowing the North Stars’ true deficit. “Of our four losses three have come by one point.”
“The way we shoot free throws could have very easily have cost us the game,” Wheaton North coach Dave Brackmann said of the Falcons’ 7-for-14 shooting from the foul line in the final quarter. “In a low-scoring affair, neither team was good offensively. Usually when points are hard to come by, missing that many free throws is going to cost you.”
On three separate trips in the frenetic fourth quarter, the Falcons muffed the front end of the bonus.
“We didn’t capitalize on it like we should have,” Poulin said.
It was a monumental struggle for the North Stars (6-4, 5-4) the entire game.
Wheaton North limited the North Stars to 10 points in the first half, leading by a football-like score of 21-10 at the break.
Wheaton North entered the final quarter with a 25-15 advantage.
“I can’t remember the last time we shot like this,” Poulin said. “We had wide-open shots by some very good shooters.”
But the North Stars finally gained some traction in the climatic final eight minutes.
Jeremy Durocher and Nick DeMarco had breakaway layups after thefts at midcourt for the North Stars.
Twice in the final minute, the North Stars’ made it a one-possession game with 3-pointers.
Ethan Marlowe, who finished with 9 points, made the score 32-31 with his baseline 3-pointer with 20,3 seconds to play.
DeMarco had done the trick earlier in the North Stars’ final burst in which they scored more points than the first three quarters combined.
St. Charles North also missed a 3-pointer on a previous possession that would have forced the only tie of the game.
Sam Cascella and Seth Kortenhoven combined for three 3-pointers as the Falcons opened the game with 12 of the first 15 points.
“St. Charles North is a really good team,” said Cascella, who finished with nine points. “We were able to stick it out.”
“We made too many mistakes,” Poulin said. “We made time-score mistakes. We made execution mistakes.”
Kortenhoven led the Falcons with 12 points.