Whew, did they need this.
Reese Dumpit understood the situation for St. Charles East. With the ball in his hands and the game clock winding down, the senior point guard wanted to make sure he didn’t let it slip away.
This mission? Accomplished.
“It feels great,” Dumpit said. “I love my teammates and coach for having trust in me to control the game at the end. It helped me finish that game.”
The Saints traveled Monday night to Bartlett looking to snap a 15-game losing streak. Getting a team-high 24 points from the 5-foot-6 Dumpit, St. Charles East held off the Hawks 73-59.
In the final 95 seconds of the nonconference game with a nine-point lead, the Saints (2-16) gave Dumpit the ball and he took care of it, making six straight free throws.
He made 1 of 2 on a fourth trip to the line, while senior forward Gavin Belli converted a layin with 10.8 seconds left that sealed a decision over Bartlett (5-14) that was a long time coming.
The Saints’ first win this season came in their second game, 50-43 over Schaumburg.
“Give Reese a lot of credit for finishing up,” St. Charles East coach Rob Klemm said. “He made his free throws, and the way Joey Cwik was scoring the ball for them, we needed those free throws to make sure we got that win.
“Cwik was playing really good basketball, so to keep him at a distance, making those free throws was huge down the stretch.”
How good was Cwik?
Bartlett’s creative 6-1 senior guard erupted for 36 points to win the personal head-to-head showdown he and Dumpit had going.
“Joey’s a great player and I knew he would get his buckets, no matter what,” Dumpit said. “I tried not to let that get me down and stay up on the offensive side, stay good mentally for my team.”
He did just that — his 24 points being a career high.
“I know the whole team is happy about it,” Dumpit said. “We’ve had our struggles, but we’ve had no doubt that we were gonna overcome these obstacles.
“I think a big part of that is the togetherness in that locker room and how connected we are, how much of a family we are.”
Dumpit didn’t have to do it alone.
As he has much of the season, 6-7 sophomore center Liam Barrett came off the bench midway through the first quarter with the Saints holding a 14-9 lead after rallying from an early 7-4 deficit.
Barrett went to work, scoring on four straight possessions from inside to close the first quarter with an 8-3 run that gave St. Charles East a 22-12 lead entering the second quarter.
“Liam just came back this year,” Klemm said. “It’s his first season playing basketball since seventh grade. He’s coming on. He’s improved by leaps and bounds.
“He’s a hard-working kid who puts in a ton of work and has great energy. I was happy to see him take some steps today.”
Dumpit certainly noticed.
“I love it for the kid,” he said. “We love taking him under our wing, love seeing him develop. Nothing bad for that kid. He gave us a lift.”
It was a 13-point margin at halftime, but nip and tuck the rest of the way.
Cooper Jensen, a 6-3 senior forward, helped Dumpit hold the line, dropping in 10 points and coming up one rebound short of a double-double with nine rebounds.
“We’ve been talking to Cooper about really learning to attack, to really be aggressive,” Klemm said. “He really did that.”
Small in stature doesn’t equate with Dumpit’s contributions, however, according to Klemm.
“He understands his limitations and uses them to become an advantage,” Klemm said. “He’s got incredible quickness and has a great in-the-lane and shot-fake-under move.”
His 3-pointer is lethal as well.
“That was a big win for us,” Klemm said. “We just had to break the streak.”