Pope, Pereira hit the boards in Naperville North win

Even while starting the last two years and playing quite well, Naperville North's CeCe Pope and Laurel Pereira were often overshadowed by girls basketball standout Kayla Sharples.

But now that Sharples has graduated, it's up to Pope and Pereira to lead the way for the Huskies this season and so far the two are more than up to the task. Monday night in WarHawk Tournament play at West Aurora, the two shined on both ends of the floor. Naperville North improved to 2-0 with a 56-41 defeat of Riverside-Brookfield (1-1).

Pope had 20 points and 20 rebounds and Pereira had her second straight 17-point outburst and she also played a big role on the Huskies' 55-rebound night, pulling in 12 of her own.

"I play with my heart and I play for my team no matter what," the 5-foot-8 Pope said. "If I can't do it offensively I try and do it defensively. Tonight I had the advantage of doing both."

Pope and Pereira started fast on Monday and the Huskies needed them on their game as the Bulldogs' Samantha Bloom was keeping her team close with a combinations of 3-pointers and quick drives to the basket while tallying a game-high 26 points. But with Pope scoring 10 points and Pereira knocking down a pair of 3s, the Huskies led 18-13 after one quarter.

The lead grew to 33-21 at the half as Pope had 16 points and 10 rebounds through two quarters, and Pereira added 9 points and 8 rebounds on her way to a big game.

"The biggest thing this year is we're trying to get everyone involved and everyone playing together," said Pereira, who will play both point guard and the off-guard spot this season. "We're really team oriented this year and we have a lot of chemistry."

While the two veterans will lead the way this year, the Huskies also count on 6-foot-4 sophomore center Jadie Jurkovic as well as a combination of upper- and lowerclassmen all expected to make contributions. Jurkovic had 9 rebounds against R-B and also showed a nice touch inside on a pair of second-half buckets.

"It's fun coaching this group because they care so much," Naperville North coach Jason Dycus said. "For us the key is we've got to get second-chance points. Tonight we did that."

Pope said one scramble during Monday's game sums up this year's Huskies squad well.

"I think we had one possession where we had three girls diving on the ground for a loose ball. That really helps when everyone's heart is in the game," Pope said. "We have a lot of team chemistry this year and that's definitely an advantage. We love playing together."

The Huskies resume tourney play at 1 p.m. Friday at West Aurora against DeKalb to close out pool play, with the tourney continuing on Saturday at Waubonsie Valley.