Naperville North holds off Waubonsie Valley

Just when Waubonsie Valley threatened to steal a victory, Naperville North showed how to finish out a girls basketball game.

The Warriors cut Naperville North's lead to 4 points from 10 in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies pulled away for a 58-46 DuPage Valley Conference victory Thursday night in Naperville.

"We kind of dug ourselves a hole throughout the game," Huskies senior guard Laurel Pereira said. "We were a little sloppy with everything. Our passes need to be a lot crisper. But we were able to pick it up the second half."

"I was happy with how we finished the game," Huskies coach Jason Dycus added. "It was a rough game from a turnover standpoint, which we have a habit of doing. We have to get that corrected. But I told the girls, if I'm going to get on you and hold you accountable when you mess up, I'm going to be the first one to complement you when you do things well, and the way we closed the last 3½ minutes of a game, particularly in the fastbreak and hurt their press and we got layups and and-ones and hit our free throws, that's the way to finish a game."

Both teams had long layoffs following their holiday tournaments. The Warriors hadn't played since Dec. 26, the Huskies since Dec. 18.

"That first game back you're always a little bit rusty," said Dycus, whose team committed 21 turnovers and made just 37 percent of its shots.

Naperville North (8-4, 2-2) took the lead for good midway through the second quarter when Lauren Platou grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back in the basket to make the score 20-18. The lead hit double digits on Morgan Lockridge's basket off a Sophia Fumagalli assist, making the score 33-23 in the third quarter.

"I was very proud of our effort," Owles said. "...For us 46 points is actually a pretty good output. It's our second-highest total of the year."

Both coaches were impressed with Pereira's effort. She poured in 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding 3 assists and 2 steals. She made three 3-pointers.

"She really put us on her back offensively," Dycus said. "Laurel's a good player, a good shooter. I think she took shots under control much better. She was huge for us, there's no doubt about it. She's certainly a tremendous scorer. We need a little more help from the others so we don't put so much pressure on her."

"She played really well," Owles added. "She was good. When they needed a bucket, she got it. She was a handful."

Freshman Dajour Miles finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds for the Warriors (3-13, 0-7).

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