Schaumburg uses inside game to beat St. Charles East

After St. Charles East lit up the scoreboard early Wednesday with three-pointers, Schaumburg retaliated in a big way.

The Saxons won on the Saints’ floor 65-60 in the Ron Johnson Thanksgiving basketball tournament by taking it to the basket repeatedly throughout the fourth quarter and owning the area around both rims.

“I thought our shot selection was the key to the game,” Saxons coach Matt Walsh said. “We attacked the basket and I thought we did a nice job of handling their traps and pressure, and our kids did a nice job of closing out the game.”

The Saxons’ big men, Johnnie Flynn and Joshua Rahn, went right to the hoop in the final quarter and Rahn had seven of his team-high 18 points while Flynn scored seven of his 17 points then.

The score was tied at 50 with 4:06 remaining when Flynn got inside for a layup. After a missed Saints three-point try, Rahn drove for a layup. Following a Saints free throw, Christopher Mullaney drove to the hoop, was fouled and made both free throws for a five-point lead.

The Saxons never led by less than three again, and the Saints never got a chance to shoot for the tie the rest of the game. Marquis Woodard closed it out with a free throw for a four-point lead with 11 seconds remaining.

“I thought we played a really composed game,” Walsh said. “We have a young, inexperienced team. Tonight I thought they showed a lot of toughness and heart and character.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth early — we were down 13-4 — but our kids didn’t panic.”

The Saints (1-1) had six first-half three-pointers and led 31-26 going into the third quarter. Dom Adduci had 14 first-half points on the way to a game-high 28 and Mick Vyzral had three first-half treys for the Saints en route to a 17-point night.

But Schaumburg (1-1) set up its late charge inside by going outside in the third quarter with Brendan Parker hitting 11 of his 17 points. He made three three-pointers in the quarter and fueled a 15-3 run that put the Saxons up 41-34.

“There’s a reason why Brendan went off,” Walsh said. “He’s a very hard worker who put in the time in the offseason. He really cares about the team. He’s put the effort in and I’m not surprised he did that.”