Naperville North earns berth in consolation championship

Opinions differed on what woke up Naperville North.

“Coach,” the Huskies’ Matt Stacho said. “He yelled at us.”

Jeff Powers? Nah. However forceful, though, his message helped Naperville North beat Conant 41-35 on Wednesday at York’s 37th annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic in Elmhurst.

During a 13-2 Conant third-quarter run, watching the Cougars force 9 turnovers, Powers took a timeout, his team down 26-19.

“I called that timeout and I told these guys, hey, we’re not out of this. We’ve got to play defense, we’ve got to cause a turnover and get some rebounds.”

In a game each team led six times with five ties, Naperville North (5-6) recovered when it mattered. The Huskies will play for the consolation championship at 5 p.m. Thursday against Wheaton Warrenville South. Conant has Oswego for 11th place at 3:30 p.m.

Naperville North’s Jovonn Griffin hounded Conant marksman London Dokubo, holding him to 6 points and zero 3-pointers for the game. Nick Buege worked both ends of the floor and Jake DuPré had the game Powers said he’d been waiting for with team highs of 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Whenever Naperville North needed a positive down the stretch, the 6-foot-5 senior forward supplied it.

“I just really didn’t want to lose, and luckily my teammates can create a lot for me,” DuPré said. “Everyone was going hard to the basket and a few balls came my way so I was able to get the rebounds. I just would hold onto it, (get fouled) and shoot free throws.”

Conant’s leading scorer, 12-point man Dylan Bartuch, made a free throw with 2:23 to play to give Conant its last lead, 35-34. The Cougars (9-3) would score no more, missing three 3-point tries and turning the ball over twice in succession as DuPré and 10-point scorer Buege held court.

Instead of focusing on crunch time, Conant coach Tom McCormack lamented a game-long shooting slump. The Cougars went 17 of 40 from the floor.

“I thought our kids played great, I thought we executed great,” he said. “But we couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean.”

Rugged forward Avery Osby, who scored 10 points with 6 rebounds against Naperville North’s man-to-man and 2-3 zone defenses, agreed.

“I don’t think anything really gave us fits, except we just really couldn’t knock down shots,” Osby said. “We had a lot of open looks and a lot of good shots, but we just couldn’t put it in the hoop.”