St. Charles Boys Basketball Starts Season With Win Over Barat Academy

boys' basketball team opened its season with a resounding 72-38 win over Barat Academy in the first game of the St. Charles Tip Off Classic Nov. 30. 

The St. Charles High Pirates were led by performances from guard TJ Short, center Jordan Schlueter and guard Matt Mitchell, all seniors. Short picked up 14 points and six steals; Mitchell tallied 13 points and six assists. Schlueter provided a forceful presence under the basket, pulling in eight rebounds to go with eight points and five blocks.

St. Charles' coach Rick Foster said the seniors are vital to his team.

"They are the key for us, being leaders on and off the court," he said. "TJ Short, Jordan Schlueter, Matt Mitchell, and Cid Strickland are the core of our team and will lead the way all season. How they go is how we will go."

The energy of St. Charles was evident from the start, as the Pirates attacked the basket early and played aggressive defense, taking a 16-9 lead into the second quarter. They continued to dominate to start the second quarter, but after a commanding double-digit lead, they became a bit complacent, Foster said.

"I thought we started strong off the tip," he said. "We got up big early, then took some bad shots and did not guard very well in the second quarter."

This opened the door for the Barat Academy Eagles to cut the lead to single digits. They did so on shooting from senior Corey Heying who scored 22 points, and helped bring the Pirates' lead to 30–22 by halftime.

In the second half the Pirates outscored the Eagles 42-16. St. Charles came out playing much better defense, held the Eagles to nine points in the third quarter and limited Heying's number of quality shots.

On the offensive end, sophomore Corey Whiteside hit a handful of threes in a five minute span early in the fourth quarter to seal the win. He made six three point shots and had 22 points to lead all scorers. 

Dave German, Barat Academy athletic director and head coach, said he feels good about the game, although the final score was lopsided.

"This is the first varsity game ever for everyone on our team, even the upperclassman," he said. "They had no idea of the pace and intensity of a varsity contest - no matter how much I preached it during practice. I feel we now know and will make adjustments during practices and games, which will make us competitive this year."

Foster said winning the school's tournament in its first year is a priority, but the main goal is to perform well throughout the season.

"We are looking at the conference and district as wide open, anyone can win," he said. "I think our best basketball is ahead of us and I think we will get better as the season goes along. We want to play our best in February."