Mark Balaskovits, hot-shooting St. Francis start fast, hold off Yorkville at Jack Tosh Holiday Classic opener

ELMHURST – Mark Balaskovits didn’t need to be reminded that St. Francis' 40-point first half Thursday morning was a little out of the norm.

He’ll take it.

“That’s sometimes more than we score in a full game‚” St. Francis’ senior guard said. “We were feeling it.”

Balaskovits provided the spark to that hot start. He scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter, and hit three of the Spartans' six first-half 3-pointers.

St. Francis led Yorkville by 18 at halftime and held on for a 62-55 win in the first round of the 50th Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York.

Niko Quaranta added 14 points, four assists and three steals and Ben Whorlow 11 points and five rebounds for the Spartans (6-5), who advanced to face Rolling Meadows. Gabe Sanders scored 21 points and Joey Jakstys 10 for Yorkville (6-4).

Lefty-shooting Balaskovits knocked down his first 3-point attempt 38 seconds in, and scored on a layup through contact. He later went coast-to-coast for a spinning layup around two defenders, and buried a corner three to end the first quarter with St. Francis ahead 17-8.

“That is the best feeling, is making that first shot,” Balaskovits said. “We were moving the ball. Shots were going in, which was good, but mainly with teammates it was trusting each other and moving the ball. Our scouting report was good, they were running zone and we knew what to do.”

St. Francis, scoring just a tick over 50 points per game coming in, put up its second-highest point total of the season. It came a game after its low total, a 65-35 loss to DePaul Prep.

The Spartans had 11 days off since then, just what the doctor ordered to St. Francis coach Erin Dwyer.

St. Francis shot 8-for-16 from three for the game, much of the work done in the first half to lead 40-22.

“First of all, we hadn’t been healthy. We got healthy and that helps a lot,” Dwyer said. “And we needed to practice. We played five games in seven days and this is a young team to a degree. We needed solid practices. It was the first time we were able to have four good practices. And then getting good shots is half the battle. Our shot selection the last four games was very poor. We have kids who can make shots, but you have to get better shots.”

Whorlow, a 6-foot-7 sophomore who is St. Francis' height with Gavin Mueller lost for the season from a football injury, missed the team’s last two games with an ankle injury.

He was a presence in the first half with 10 of his 11 points, along with rebounding and blocks.

“We’re not real big so we need him,” Dwyer said. “The kid’s been thrown into the fire but he battles.”

Yorkville, down 18 at half, battled back to within 48-41 after three quarters, with Sanders scoring 11 of his 21 in the third with three threes.

The Foxes four times closed to within eight points in the fourth quarter, but never got closer until the final basket.

“When you’re down 18 at halftime it’s hard to come back, but we did a great job of that. We showed our potential,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “But you have to do it for four quarters. Honestly the worst thing we did in the first half was our offense. We took some bad shots, we were out of control and that fed into what they wanted to do.”

Balaskovits hit St. Francis' first shot of the fourth quarter, his fifth three of the game, to steady the ship – no surprise to his coach.

“First of all, he’s tough, he’s one of our leading rebounders and he’s a 5-10, 5-11 guard,” Dwyer said. “He’s just a tough kid, hard-nosed mindset, plays hard all the time. There’s no fear factor.”

Yorkville, which received 19 points from its two freshman – Braydon Porter scored nine, plays Timothy Christian Friday morning.

“As I told the kids, no days off. We have to find a way to respond, come back ready to go and be motivated,” Holakovsky said. “Not ideal to lose the first one but a lot of potential this week.”