Super Stars: Furtney, Stark lead St. Charles North boys, girls teams over rival St. Charles East

There is something about the St. Charles East gymnasium that brings out the best in St. Charles North’s Jake Furtney.

Furtney, who scored 29 points in the North Stars’ 69-62 victory over the Saints last season, celebrated his return to the East gym with a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds during the North Stars’ 57-46 win over St. Charles East Friday night.

With the win, the North Stars improved to 5-4 overall, 1-3 in DuKane Conference play.

“Our goal was to be above .500, get our first conference win and play better than we did against Wheaton Warrenville South (62-57 loss this past week),” said North Stars coach Tom Poulin. “Now we’re above .500, we got our first conference win, and we played as well as we did against them (WW South).”

The Saints (3-7, 0-5) jumped out to a 21-16 first-quarter lead on the strength of 12 points from senior guard Jake Greenspan, who knocked down his first four 3-point attempts.

“Jake got off early,” said Saints coach Rob Klemm. “He hit his first four and then we didn’t make another one the rest of the game.

“We finished 4 of 18 from 3, and they were 9 of 22. You look at an 11-point game – that was a big difference right there. They knocked down more than we did.”

Leading 29-27 at halftime, the North Stars increased the margin to 39-34 after 3 quarters before finally pulling away from the Saints late, thanks to Furtney’s 3-pointer from the top of the key and a 3-pointer by Luke Holtz (10 points, 7 rebounds).

“He’s a huge matchup problem,” Klemm said of Furtney. “He’s not just a big body – he’s a smart basketball player, he’s got good feet, good hands, and a soft touch.

“To step out and knock down that 3 – that was big.”

Furtney also displayed the ability to get to the free-throw line, where he made 9 of 15 attempts.

“I should have made more free throws,” he said.

“He plays through so much contact,” said Poulin. “He’s one of the best free-throw shooters we’ve ever had. Everything needed to start inside-out against this team. With Jake, that’s the way you need to play, and it makes everybody else better.”

Daniel Connelly added 10 points for the North Stars, while Marco Klebosits had 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Saints.

Girls game: St. Charles North senior point guard Laney Stark is beginning to get used to the crosstown rivalry with St. Charles East.

Stark, who transferred from Bartlett 2 years ago, scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, during the North Stars’ 44-38 DuKane Conference girls basketball victory over the Saints (9-2, 3-1) Friday night.

“It’s a lot at first,” said Stark, who added 5 rebounds and 5 steals for the North Stars (10-1, 3-1). “I’ve only been here two years. I’m not technically all the way used to it, but it was a lot of fun.”

The first half featured stingy defense and very few points, as the North Stars clung to a 13-12 halftime advantage. The teams combined for 35 first-half turnovers.

“This atmosphere in this building in this community – it’s a special place,” said North Stars coach Mike Tomczak. “St. Charles East is an outstanding basketball team. Defensively, they’re playing as tough as anybody we’re going to see.”

Stark accounted for all 4 of her team’s third-quarter baskets, as the North Stars maintained a 26-23 lead.

A layup by Reagan Sipla (6 points), who surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career earlier in the week, extended North’s margin to 36-27 with 5:35 remaining.

However, the Saints refused to budge, cutting the deficit to 41-38 on Lexi DiOrio’s 3-pointer from the corner with 33 seconds remaining.

A pair of free throws by freshman Lelanie Posada with 32 seconds left sealed the victory.

“We’re very happy to get out of here with a win tonight,” said Tomczak, whose team received 7 fourth-quarter points from sophomore Abby Zawadzki. “Abby came in and stepped up. She can hit a softball like 500 feet, but she showed us she can play basketball in a challenging environment.”

DiOrio scored a team-high points for the Saints, who saw their 9-game winning streak snapped.

“We fought to the very end,” said Saints coach Katie Claussner. “I thought we let the emotions of the night get to us.

“It’s quite different on the coaching side, but it’s fun. Just having the band here, the whole student section – hearing the roar. I love it, and I know the girls love it. This is not going to be the last time we see it, so we’ve got to learn from it and get better day by day.”