By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor

St. Charles came away from this past weekend’s John Curtis tournament with a win, but two former district foes combined to give the Comets fits.

SCC downed Lusher for the second time this season, 58-30, but could not find a way to defeat old district rivals Newman and John Curtis.

“We’re just not executing as well as those teams,” said St. Charles Coach Chris Perrone. “I don’t know if it’s just that it’s the first year in a brand new system, that could be it. But those teams were more physical than we were. They outplayed us.”

Newman and Curtis each finished the tournament with three wins and no losses. There was no bracket play.

The Greenies defeated the Comets (6-8) 57-49. Newman used a second quarter push to distance themselves from the Comets.

Perrone noted Newman’s halfcourt trap as one that posed problems for not only his team, but others at the tournament.

“We have things installed to break down that kind of defense,” Perrone said. “But Newman really kept us off balance with it.”

Gabe Corchiani led St. Charles with 13 points. Victor Gordon added 12.

Jonathan McKnight led Curtis in the Patriots win over SCC with 19 points on Friday night. Evan Ingram added 11. (The full box score and SCC stats were not available).

“Curtis just has a solid team. Their guys don’t bring a lot of flash, but they’re good at what they do,” said Perrone. “Their guys hit some big shots that I didn’t think would go. And McKnight scored 11 of his points in one quarter, which helped them pull away.”

Perrone noted his team’s poor foul shooting in the two losses – SCC hit under 40% of its free throws overall.

“When you shoot below 40%, and you are outrebounded, you’re going to see a lot of losses. It’s a direct correlation,” he said.

Birch Matus scored 17 and Zach Goodwin scored 10 to lead St. Charles over Lusher.

SCC led 18-3 after a quarter, and never saw its lead threatened.

One bit of good news came in the form of a return to action – point guard DeMarcus Bernard played in all three games after missing time with an ankle injury sustained before the Christmas break.

“He’s knocking some rust off,” said Perrone. “He played well. He progressed and played better each game.”