Close isn't good enough for Naperville North
Shannon Bushman bore a definite look of frustration.
The biggest challenge for a program trying to forge a winning identity might be finishing close games. Naperville North can attest to that this week.
Just like on Tuesday at Wheaton Warrenville South, the Huskies let a fourth-quarter lead unravel on Saturday at Oswego East. The host Wolves forced overtime, where they beat Naperville North 66-62.
“We have so much potential,” said Bushman, who scored a season-high 26 points. “I feel like we should have got it done at Wheaton South and we should have brought home another win tonight. We are a much better team than what we showed in overtime.”
Naperville North (3-6) led by as many as 9 in the first half and took a 49-43 advantage into the fourth quarter. Oswego East (7-3) came back to tie it, but Caitlin Knoll split two free throws and hit a 3-pointer to push the Huskies ahead 57-53.
They maintained that margin until the final two minutes. But in that stretch Naperville North missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw, threw the ball away on its next possession and traveled on a third.
Oswego East's Ameera George banked in a tying runner with 1:13 left in regulation.
“We played a great first half a great three quarters,” Naperville North coach Jacquie Discipio said. “You could tell in the fourth quarter it wasn't flowing the same way. We didn't play loose and relaxed.”
A Knoll 3-pointer momentarily nudged Naperville North ahead 60-57 in overtime, but George answered with a stickback basket. Oswego East scored the game's next 7 points at the free-throw line.
A staggering 66 combined free throws were attempted for the game. Oswego East made 22 of 38, 7 of 12 in overtime.
“We had Oswego last night (a win), and I think that took a lot of energy out of us early,” Oswego East coach Nate Eimer, “but I really thought our team hung in there. I'm proud of how our girls finished.”
Naperville North was 13 of 28 at the line missing 5 of 6 attempts in the fateful fourth quarter.
“We are so close as a program,” Discipio said. “We are in games, but we can't finish at the end. It's extremely frustrating.”
Bushman could vouch for how physical a game it was at times.
“They're rough,” Bushman said of Oswego East. “We're not used to that.”
Jenna Jatczak had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Naperville North. Arneasa Blair had a game-high 21 points for Oswego East. The Wolves' helter-skelter pace was no accident, with 6-foot-1 center Leah DuBois out with a sprained knee.
“We have to play that way, with our size,” Eimer said. “We have to play fast. Otherwise we can't hang with a lot of these teams.”