By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RIVER RIDGE – Malik Morgan scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half Friday night to lead Curtis to a 20-point halftime lead en route to a 70-42 District 10-2A victory over the Comets.

The loss eliminated SCC (12-14, 2-4) from postseason contention. To clinch a spot, the Comets needed at least a victory on Friday for a potential wildcard, and perhaps another in a district playoff game over the Patriots to clinch the second automatic bid from District 10-2A (Class 2A top seed Riverside secured the first).

“I’m not sure if we were just flat, or if they were that pumped,” said St. Charles coach Chris Perrone. “The disappointing thing, more than anything, is that win or lose, I’d like to have seen us come out and play well in our last game. It didn’t happen.”

Curtis (16-7, 4-2) led 18-12 after a quarter but really opened things up in the second quarter, outscoring SCC 20-6 to go ahead 38-18 entering the half. Morgan scored eight first quarter points and kept his roll going into the second, where he scored 14.

“They’ve got some guards that can really get out and defend you, and Morgan is capable of dropping 30 on any night. He can really play,” said Perrone. “The effect he has more than anything is he makes them confident. Even if he’s not shooting the ball, they’re confident when he’s around.”

In the third quarter, Curtis slammed the door, posting a 17-8 mark.

“We missed a lot of shots, some open, good looks,” said Perrone. “They really hurt us on the offensive glass at the other end.”

John Williams led St. Charles with 16 points. Mike Green and Jesse Coleman each added six.

Perrone said that falling just short of the playoffs wasn’t the goal he and his team had set, but that definite progress had been made. The Comets were 6-20 a year ago and doubled their win total this season.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Perrone. “We’re very young and we should continue to improve. We did get better as the season went on.”