A little travel no bother for Naperville North

With its pool closed for renovations, the Naperville North boys water polo team is not about to let the minor inconvenience of having to practice off-campus slow it down.

Huskies coach John Blumthal attributes a substantial amount of his team’s success to the seniors.

Of the six seniors in the Huskies lineup, goalie Matt Lesiecki and field player Jack Henderson are the only consistent starters. The Huskies have received significant contributions from the other four seniors to earn the No. 3 seed at sectionals.

“Ryan Schickerling stepped up and has become arguably our best defender, and Alex Hogenboom has become a primary holeman,” Blumthal said. “Bradley Heidler has used his speed to become a scoring threat on the counter attack, and Mac Pettinger has been a great utility player doing whatever is asked of him while becoming a great communicator.”

The boys sectional gets under way at Neuqua Valley on May 12.

“If the senior class hadn’t stepped up like they have, we could easily be five games under .500 and be a four, five or six seed,” Blumthal said.

The latest renovations to Naperville North’s pool include the installation of new bleachers and have forced late practices to take place at Naperville Central. The Huskies (15-11-3) play their final regular-season game at Hinsdale South on Monday.

“It hasn’t added up to that many practices, but starting practice at 6:30 at night isn’t exactly convenient,” Blumthal said.

Redhawks not sweating loss: Last week the No. 2-ranked Naperville Central girls (25-1) lost its first game of the season in a 6-5 nail-biting loss at Fenwick, but Naperville Central turned what could have been perceived as a low point of the season into a positive.#147;The loss gave us a renewed purpose at practice,#148; said Redhawks coach Jeff Plackett. #147;It helped us identify some of our weaknesses and what we need to improve on heading into the sectional tournament.#148;Once again the Redhawks have earned the No. 1 seed at sectionals. Last season Naperville Central parlayed its first-place finish at sectionals into a push for the state championship.As is customary in Illinois water polo, the sectional seeds are released three weeks before the tournament is played. Naperville Central found out it would be seeded No. 1 before its loss to Fremd.#147;I think we got a little slow in the Fremd game,#148; Plackett said. #147;It#146;s nice to have that happen as a coach because we see how the girls respond from adversity.#148;The girls sectional begins May 11 at Neuqua Valley. Warriors see danger ahead:Now that Waubonsie Valley has secured the No. 4 seed at the boys sectionals tournament, odds are the Warriors will be facing the No. 3-ranked team in the state in the second round.Naperville Central is a team that many area teams look to avoid playing in early rounds because of its dominant play in recent seasons, but the Warriors know what it takes to compete with the Redhawks.#147;It looks like we#146;ll be facing Naperville Central in the second round,#148; said Waubonsie coach Matt Niemeier. #147;We#146;ll need to have every one of our players have the best game of their season.#148;Waubonsie has received the majority of its leadership this season come from its senior class.#147;Tyler Hunt and Kyle Apple always play smart and step up when we need them to,#148; Niemeier said. #147;Blake Hollis can pull up and shoot from half-pool; he#146;s got a cannon for an arm, and our goalie Sean Newton is ready for crunch time.#148;