Boys Basketball: ‘Justin is a special kid’ Former St. Charles East star Justin Hardy honored at ‘Hoops for Hope’ event

ST. CHARLES – The possibility crossed Pat Woods’ mind.

St. Charles East’s boys basketball coach has seen a buzzer-beater or two from the sideline in his time.

After all, the gentleman responsible for at least two of them during his high school career, Justin Hardy, was alongside Woods Tuesday. Hardy, a former Saints’ star and current Washington University-St. Louis athlete, is battling Stage IV stomach cancer and chemotherapy treatment while continuing his playing career. He was in St. Charles Tuesday as Geneva defeated St. Charles East 59-56, but the game meant much more than the final score.

The evening served as a Hoops for Hope event in honor of Hardy. At halftime, Hardy was presented with his induction into the St. Charles East athletics’ Hall of Fame. Hardy addressed the crowd before the game and multiple tributes ensued throughout the evening. His collegiate coach, Pat Juckem, and teammates sat in the crowd.

An ESPN camera crew followed his every move from beginning until the end.

“I was hoping for a Hardy moment at the end there,” Woods said. “I thought we had one. That would’ve been picture-perfect.”

Saints guard Eddie Herrera hit a three-pointer with 8.9 seconds left to close the Vikings’ lead to two. The ensuing Geneva possession, Geneva’s Chris Suger saved a near-turnover with 5.3 seconds left, prompting a Saints foul to send Ryan Huskey to the line.

Huskey split two free throws to push the lead to three. A Saints heave at the buzzer fell short.

“Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” Woods continued. “We talk about it all the time: It’s family. We would do this for any of our guys. Justin is a special kid. He’s done a lot of great things and I look forward to the years to come to see what else he accomplishes. The list is growing every day.”

For Vikings junior Jimmy Rasmussen, who scored 16 points and played critical defense for the majority of the game, experiencing the vivacious crowd “was amazing.”

“The fans and everybody cheering was crazy,” Rasmussen said. “The speech [Hardy] gave was really good, too. It’s a night [where] you can’t really describe it. It was a lot of energy and just fueled me to play the game.”

Geneva (14-13, 3-9) also earned standout performances from Mick Lawrence (15 points, five rebounds) and Huskey (11 points).

The Vikings overcame some recent troubles closing games in the fourth quarter, losing a pair of games to St. Charles North and Batavia within the last week by a combined three points.

“It was huge. Chris scared me a little at the end [with the near turnover on the baseline],” Rasmussen laughed. “Thank God he saved that pass and Ryan banked the free throw. That was huge.”

The Saints (2-22, 1-11) were paced by Raul Gor’s 13 points and nine rebounds, while Steven Call had nine points and two rebounds. Brody McCaslin had seven points.

“Jimmy is outstanding. Jimmy has been really good the last couple games,” Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. “He’s been good all year. He guarded Raul Gor tonight and he did a great job on [Batavia’s] Trent Tousana on Friday. When we go to our defense, he’s been one of our steady guys. He’s only a junior.”

“He’s understanding: playing defense with our fouling [and] moving his feet,” Hennig continued. “…I thought he played pretty good ‘D’ all night and he scored 16 points. He made some big shots. Made some good passes.”