Falcons soar past Huskies
If Thursday night's performance is any indication, this season's Wheaton North girls basketball team might rack up more mileage than the car in your garage.
The Falcons galloped, hustled and sprinted all over Naperville North on Thursday night, staying in fifth gear for nearly all 32 minutes in their 74-42 victory over the Huskies in Wheaton.
Wheaton North (4-2, 1-0 DuPage Valley Conference) jumped to leads of 26-12 after one quarter and 46-20 at the half, leaving little doubt about the game's outcome. Before resting their starters at the outset of the fourth quarter, the Falcons forced Naperville North into 27 turnovers.
"We really wanted to just come out and run on them. I think that's our strength," Falcons senior point guard Lauren Hoffman said. "We definitely had a game plan with our defense.
"We wanted to force them into a lot of turnovers, which is kind of our big thing."
"The kids like to run. I think once we get in that style it helps us, because our defense is pretty strong," Wheaton North coach David Eaton said. "We're still looking to cause some confusion. We got a lot of tips and steals tonight, and I thought that really jump-started our offense."
While the Falcons forced a total of 28 turnovers Thursday night, they had other big things up their sleeves. Sophomore guard Fantasia Vine matched Hoffman point for point, tying the senior with a game-high 18 points.
"She doesn't play like a sophomore," Eaton said. "We're very high on her. She does a lot of good things that we just haven't ever seen here at Wheaton North.
"She's just got a feel for just getting to the basket, playing the game and getting out and running. She's going to have a bright future."
Naperville North (0-6, 0-1) showed off a bright young player of its own, as freshman guard Shannon Bushman came off the bench and scored a team-high 11 points.
"This was kind of her first initiation, and she did really good. She's got a good, fighting spirit and a positive attitude," Huskies coach Jacquie Discipio said. "You can tell she wants to get after it right away."
Senior Kaelyn Witkowski added 10 points for Naperville North, and perhaps just as importantly, continued to provide strong senior leadership.
"Kaelyn has been amazing. I can't speak highly enough about her," Discipio said. "I know that she wants it more than anyone. She's the emotional leader on the team, and she's the physical leader on the team."