Sophomore guard Lelanie Posada had a purpose in mind when she passed the ball to junior forward Sydney Johnson on the opening possession for St. Charles North.
“I know that Sydney is one of our best shooters, if not the best shooter, so my goal is always to get her going,” Posada said. “Well, it’s to get everyone going, but especially her.”
The 5-foot-10 Johnson received Posada’s pass and immediately made a 3-pointer. That was just the beginning of an historic performance Tuesday night.
Johnson erupted for a program-record 36 points to lead the third-seeded North Stars to a 78-28 win over 14th-seeded Proviso West in a Class 4A St. Charles North Regional semifinal.
The North Stars (23-8) advance to play sixth-seeded Wheaton North (18-14) — a 68-38 semifinal winner over Glenbard East — at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional title.
“Sydney was terrific,” St. Charles North coach Mike Tomczak said. “She came out and shot the ball with confidence.
“We’ve kind of been going as she goes this year, but you never expect that. She got hot.”
Did she ever. Johnson lit up the Panthers (6-14) for 32 points in the first half alone. She sank all of her program-record nine 3-pointers before intermission to give the North Stars a 56-13 cushion.
Johnson scored on a steal and layup early in the third quarter to break the single-game scoring record of 34 points set in 2008 by former All-American Kelsey Smith, who later played at Michigan State.
Johnson, who made 13 of 23 shots, did her damage in just 19 minutes of action. Tomczak took her out at the 4:54 mark of the third quarter with the North Stars leading 66-13.
“It feels really good, honestly,” Johnson said. “It’s obviously a huge honor to hold those records. A lot of it was just my teammates lifting me up, getting me the ball and having confidence in myself.
“I know if I miss the first couple shots, I just believe that the next are going to go in. That’s just really where it comes from.”
Even so, few high school players can say they scored 32 points in one half, regardless of the opponent. Did Johnson have any idea of what was coming?
“A little bit because I knew that they played zone,” said Johnson, who also had five steals and three assists. “It was a lot easier to shoot the ball off of that.”
That was true for all of the North Stars, who made 20 of 34 shots in the first half. Before the break, Posada tallied all of her 17 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. She also had five assists and five steals.
Senior guard Hannah Ganser and sophomore forward Bronwyn How each added six points for the North Stars, who recorded 13 assists and 17 steals in the first half.
“It’s a super unselfish team,” Tomczak said. “Our assist-to-turnover ratio is higher than any team I’ve coached here.
“As far as sharing the ball, they give up the good for the great pretty consistently and it’s fun to coach that kind of team.”
Many of the passes Tuesday ended up in the hands of Johnson. All five of Posada’s assists came on 3-pointers by Johnson, who banked in one of them.
“I looked up and she had 20,” Tomczak said. “I was like, ‘That came out of nowhere.’
“It was really neat in the second quarter when her teammates really started to find her and set impromptu screens because the kid got hot.”
Posada will never forget it.
“It was so fun to watch,” Posada said. “I was so glad to be a part of it.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
