When St. Charles North’s disappointing season came to a close last winter, Division I football prospect Jake Furtney had a surprising message for teammate Parker Reinke.

“Last season did not go at all how we wanted it to,” Furtney said. “I told him after we lost our regional semifinal game that I was going to play again. I wanted to get back out here.

“It’s so much fun. I love our team. It’s a great team.”

Furtney wasn’t ready to leave basketball behind, and the North Stars are glad he didn’t.

The senior forward was the driving force behind Friday’s 57-46 DuKane Conference win at St. Charles East. Furtney led the North Stars with 22 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Luke Holtz also chipped in with 10 points for St. Charles North (5-4, 1-3). Jake Greenspan paced St. Charles East (3-7, 0-5) with 19 points. Marco Klebosits added 10.

Furtney scored the first seven points of the second half for the North Stars, helping them take a 39-34 lead after three quarters.

Then, Furtney stepped out for a 3-pointer and followed it with two free throws in the fourth quarter as the North Stars pushed the lead to 46-36.

“Jake was where we began (Friday),” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “Everything had to start inside-out against this team.

“With Jake, that’s the way we need to play, and it makes everybody else better.”

Despite basketball not being his main sport, Furtney has developed into a major part of the plan for the North Stars.

“Good footwork, great hands, plays through contact,” Poulin said. “A lot of times things don’t get called for him. He plays through so much contact.”

That makes Furtney such an issue for opposing defenses.

“He’s a huge matchup problem,” St. Charles East coach Rob Klemm said. “The problem is he’s smart too. He’s not just a big body. He’s a smart basketball player.

“He’s got good feet. He’s got good hands and a soft touch. They do a nice job of getting him the ball, and he does a nice job of finishing. He’s a really good basketball player.”

The Saints started out hot, taking a 23-16 lead early in the second quarter. Greenspan hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter.

St. Charles East only scored 23 more points the rest of the way, however, and did not hit another 3-pointer the rest of the game.

A 13-2 spurt in the second quarter, with five points coming from Furtney, helped flip the game to St. Charles North.

“I feel like the nerves finally went away with such a big crowd,” Furtney said. “After the nerves finally went away, I think that’s when I started to sync into the game.”

Furtney felt the first three DuKane Conference losses could have been wins for the North Stars, so he was happy to get back on track.

“It’s been very frustrating,” Furtney said. “We needed this win to get us going.”

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Furtney is an all-state tight end, but for the next couple months, he wants to enjoy playing basketball one last time with his high school buddies.

“It’s awesome,” Furtney said. “I love doing it. The guys I’m playing with right now, I’ve been playing with since childhood. And in an environment like this, I kept telling the guys to take it in.

“You only get this chance once a year.”

Poulin also wants to take full advantage of having an athlete of Furtney’s caliber at his disposal.

“He’s just an awesome person,” Poulin said. “He’s just fun to be around. He’s a great teammate. He wants to win. We’ll miss him when he’s not in the gym. I’m glad he’s with us.

“He gives us a method, a way to operate offensively. We begin there and play off it.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.