Thunderous surge

Woodstock North's Steven Whiting takes an off-balance shot during the third quarter of Monday's Woodstock North Martin Luther King Jr. Classic game against Marengo in Woodstock. Woodstock North won, 52-43. (Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com)

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WOODSTOCK – When Woodstock North did not score for the first 3 minutes, it looked like the game might shape up as too many had before for the Thunder.

Not this time.

North found its groove in the second quarter. The Thunder hit 8 of 10 field goals in that quarter and did not commit a first-half turnover.

“Overall, we finally had continuity for all four quarters, and that helped a lot,” point guard Sam Schweder said.

North held off Marengo’s surge early in the fourth quarter and defeated the Indians, 52-43, Monday in the final game of its own Martin Luther King Jr. Classic.

“We really picked it up on defense,” center Zach Devore said. “That was the most fun game of the year. We were together and really playing well.”

North (5-12) fell behind 7-0 early, but wiped that out with a 20-7 advantage in the second quarter. The Thunder led by as many as nine points in the third quarter before Marengo (6-11) made its run.

The Indians cut the lead to 38-36 with 4:44 remaining in the fourth quarter on Andrew Volkening’s tip-in. North answered with the next six points of the game and led by at least five the rest of the way.

“We knew we had to pick it up on defense; we couldn’t lay back and just let them run their offense,” said Schweder, who scored 11 points. “We had intensity the whole game, especially on defense. We were ready to go.”

Schweder’s three-pointer from the left corner gave the Thunder the lead for good with 4:27 to go in the second quarter.

“Offensively, we’re not a high-powered team,” Thunder coach Steve Ryan said. “We’re going to win the game playing good defense. We made it tough for them to shoot tonight. When we play good defense like that, we seem to shoot the ball well too.”

North’s 2 of 12 shooting in the fourth quarter knocked down its percentage for the game – from 48.4 percent after three quarters to 40 percent for the game – but the Thunder hit 10 of 11 from the line in the fourth quarter, with five players each making a pair of free throws.

Zack Lundquist led Marengo with 12 points and Kent Ganvik added 10. Volkening grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and Justin Gaines had nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

“In the second quarter, we lost focus and discipline,” Marengo coach Dave Pettit said. “Give Woodstock North credit, they hit their free throws down the stretch and were real physical with us.”