Naperville North advances to York tournament semifinals
Thirteen days of preparation obviously did Naperville North's boys basketball team a world of good heading into the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
The Huskies rocked the tournament bracket with Tuesday's stunning 74-56 victory over state-ranked Riverside-Brookfield in Elmhurst.
On the heels of one of the season's biggest upsets, Naperville North (8-2) will play Hinsdale South in the Tosh semifinals at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
"Our 13 days off before the tournament, and just practicing hard ... we were ready from the tip," said Huskies junior Tyler Carlson. "We knew this team was the No. 1 team in the tournament, and we knew everyone was expecting them to kill us. We knew we could shock them."
The most stunning part of Naperville North's victory was the way it unfolded. The Huskies stormed to a double-digit second-quarter lead, and Cam Hardy's buzzer-beating bucket gave them a 39-29 halftime advantage.
Riverside-Brookfield (10-2) never narrowed the margin to single digits in the second half. Naperville North, in fact, never allowed a Bulldogs run of more than 6 straight points.
The Huskies received contributions about 10 deep into their bench, but Carlson led the way with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting, including four 3s in the second half.
"I'm really proud of our boys," said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers, whose team played without Mitch Lewis due to a broken finger suffered in Monday's win over Stagg. "They were locked in. They bought into the concepts we were practicing for the 13 days we were off."
Naperville North controlled the action from the tip, jumping to a 13-4 lead sparked by 3-pointers from Carlson and Winston Elston, who scored 14 points. Five players scored for the Huskies during their second-quarter burst that featured two 10-3 runs.
Skyler Nash led Riverside-Brookfield with 17 points while Jalen Clanton had 16 points. E.J. Vaughn scored 9 points for Naperville North. Hardy and Chris Johnson tallied 8 points apiece for the Huskies, who committed only 12 turnovers with Elston and Jelani McClain especially strong with the ball.
"Really, really smart basketball today," Powers said. "Good team effort."
York 47, Oswego 38:
The Dukes (8-3) advanced to the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic semifinals with Tuesday's 47-38 victory over Oswego in Elmhurst.
York seized command by outscoring Oswego 30-14 in the middle quarters. Nick Trapani led the Dukes with 11 points and Jack Julian tallied 10 points.
The Dukes play Downers Grove South, a winner over Conant, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with a spot in the title game at stake.
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