Naperville North bounces West Aurora
Run and gun basketball has been Naperville North’s bread and butter all season.
Why stop now?
The 14th-seeded Huskies raced out to a 17-point lead after a quarter on No. 19 West Aurora on Monday and never looked back, advancing to the semifinals of the Class 4A Naperville North regional with a 61-44 win.
“We know we’re a quick team, so we’re going to play to our strengths — we’ve been running and gunning from start to finish. That’s our kind of game,” Huskies coach Jacquie Discipio said. “But now we’re an even greater threat because when we stop and set up our halfcourt sets we can also score.”
Naperville North (13-15) hit West Aurora with a quick 12-0 run to take a 12-3 lead less than three minutes in. Jenna Jatczak had 7 straight points, including a 3-pointer followed by a steal and three-point play.
“We just came out full of energy,” said Jatczak, who finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. “We want to get to the next level. We feel if we work hard enough we can win a regional.”
It was 22-5 by the end of the quarter, Shannon Bushman also scoring 8 early points for the Huskies. Naperville North’s ball movement was quick and crisp in the halfcourt. West Aurora, on the contrary, took several hurried shots that led to runouts for a fast Huskies team.
“We just came out flat,” Blackhawks coach Connie Siljendahl said. “We weren’t patient on offense and we weren’t getting back. They got too many fastbreaks. Naperville North is very fast and quick, and they cut well.”
“First quarter, that was definitely one of our best starts,” Bushman said. “We were moving the ball well as a team and hitting our shots.”
West Aurora trailed 36-19 at halftime, but a 3-pointer by Alexis Nelson with 1:35 left in the third quarter cut the margin to 42-30. Bushman answered with a driving layup and a pair of free throws to end the quarter, and her steal and pullup 3-pointer seconds into the fourth pushed the lead back to 51-32.
Zoe Swift assisted four baskets in the fourth quarter, including a beautiful jump pass to Emily Koch cutting to the hoop.
“We didn’t come out with the same energy in the third quarter,” said Bushman, who had a game-high 23 points, “but then Zoe and Christina (Schmidt) had some nice steals, and Zoe had some great dishes down to me. We started pushing the ball faster, playing our fast-paced game.”
Juniors Dazmine Chaney and Nelson had 14 and 9 points, respectively, for a West Aurora team that returns four of Monday’s five starters next year.
Naperville North, winner of four straight, advances to play No. 3 seed Benet. Benet blew out Naperville North 64-36 earlier this season, albeit nearly two months ago.
“Benet is a strong team, and they have strong shooters,” Discipio said, “but we are a different team than when we played them in December. We will come ready to play.”