Schaumburg trio trips up St. Charles East
St. Charles East's basketball team ran into a Bermuda triangle in the form of Schaumburg's Brendan Parker, Josh Rahn and Johnnie Flynn Wednesday night.
The trio combined for 52 points and 22 rebounds during the Saxons' 65-60 victory over the host Saints (1-1) in the second round of the 55th annual Ron Johnson Thanksgiving Tournament in St. Charles.
Parker, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored a team-leading 18 points and single-handedly ignited the Saxons' third-quarter rally.
Parker scored Schaumburg's first 11 points of the second half, including three 3-pointers, as the Saxons (1-1) went on a 15-3 surge to turn a 31-26 halftime deficit into a 41-34 lead.
“There's a reason why Brendan went off — he's an extremely hard worker,” said Saxons coach Matt Walsh. “I'm not surprised that he did that because he's a very good player.”
Rahn and Flynn netted 17 points apiece and combined for 14 fourth-quarter points to help preserve the win for Schaumburg.
“I thought Josh Rahn's leadership was incredible and invaluable,” said Walsh, “and we got contributions from a lot of guys.”
“Thirty-two (Parker) came out and hit 11 straight (points) and that killed us,” said Saints coach Patrick Woods. “We talked about stopping their big three and they all had 17 or more points.”
St. Charles East came out with a burst of energy, as senior guard Dom Adduci and junior forward Mick Vyzral combined for the Saints' first 15 points.
Vyzral, who finished with 17 points, hit his first 3 shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Adduci's 3-point play extended the Saints' lead to 13-4 with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.
“We were down 13-4 but our kids didn't panic,” said Walsh. “They continued to fight.”
Flynn's 3-point play and 3-point basket helped the Saxons pull to within 17-16 after 1 quarter.
Adduci, who scored a game-high 28 points before fouling out with 29 seconds remaining, connected on a pair of 3-pointers as part of his 8-point second quarter that enabled the Saints to take a 5-point halftime advantage.
“Dom shot 50 percent from the field and Vyzral played a great game again,” said Woods, whose team will face St. Joseph (2-0) Friday night. “But we were missing that third guy to step up.”
The Saints were once again without the services of junior guard Cole Gentry (back injury).
“He practiced with us the last two days,” Woods said of Gentry. “I thought he was going to play today and then the back tightened up again. I expect to see him soon and it'll help.”
Schaumburg outscored St. Charles East 39-29 in the second half.
“I thought we tightened up defensively a little bit in the second half and that's what we pride ourselves in as a program,” said Walsh. “I'm proud of our guys' effort. I thought we learned from experience. The other night, we had a lead (against St. Joseph) but we didn't handle it well. Tonight, we learned from that game and out shot selection was really the key to the game.”
Schaumburg will take on East Aurora Friday afternoon.