Naperville North can’t catch Meteors
For the Naperville North boys basketball team, Monday night was made up of first-quarter nerves — and then three quarters of solid basketball on which to build as the season gets into full gear.
Chicago’s De La Salle cruised 81-61 in the season opener for both teams and the opening round of the Hoops for Healing tournament at Naperville North.
Take away a 16-5 hold-your-nose opening frame by the Huskies and they kept pace with the Meteors 65-56 the last three quarters.
“At the end of the first quarter, we were a little jittery. We have a bunch of seniors that had to get used to playing together and we remembered to rebound and play defense,” said senior guard Chris Mullen, one of three Huskies to score in double digits with 12 points.
De La Salle missed its first four shots, but went 5-for-11 from the field the rest of the opening quarter to build up its big advantage. North was just 1 of 8 from the field.
“Coming in, (Matt) Stacho and (Kyle) Lindberg are the only returning players that saw significant minutes last year,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “It was the first day with lights for the others, and against a team that’s ranked fifth or sixth. It took us a while to get our tempo, speed and experience.”
The Huskies trailed 36-22 at halftime, but warmed up their shooting to 4-of-11.
Junior Derek Westman got North to within 9 points for about a minute not quite midway through the second quarter with a quick 8 points including 2 3-point baskets. He finished with 12 points.
De La Salle led 54-37 at the end of three quarters, but North would not go away in the final eight minutes. David Sinickas, who scored a game-high 17 points, hit for 11 of those in the final quarter, including three 3-pointers. He finished with 5 for the night. His final one of the game came with 1:34 to play and pulled the Huskies to within 10 at 70-60.
North, however, was forced to foul the rest of the way, and the Meteors put some cushion back in their lead, overcoming 9 missed free throws in the final period.
Five Meteors finished in double digits for scoring, with Alvin Ellis and Gavin Schilling leading their squad with 16 points each.
“Derek was our best player today,” Powers said. “I thought David did well and Chris did a nice job of setting the table.”
The Huskies are back in action tonight at home as Hoops for Healing continues for them with a 7 p.m. game against DeKalb.
“Once they found they could play, the kids did a great job,” Powers said.