Naperville North wins at Glenbard East
This weekend Naperville North’s boys basketball team is trying to win in two of the DuPage Valley Conference’s toughest gyms.
One down, one to go.
The Huskies stayed tied atop the league with Friday’s 70-63 victory over Glenbard East in Lombard.
If Naperville North (9-4, 4-0) wins Saturday at West Aurora (12-2, 4-0), it’ll be alone in first place with two of its toughest DVC games in the rearview mirror.
“It’s good to have this one under our belt,” said Huskies forward Derek Westman. “We’re looking forward to getting West Aurora tomorrow.”
Back-to-back Dante Bailey 3-pointers put Glenbard East (7-5, 2-2) ahead 53-51 with 6:08 left in the game. That spurred Naperville North into a decisive 11-3 run that sent the Huskies ahead to stay at 62-56 on a pair of Westman free throws.
Naperville North made 10 of 14 free throws in the final 2:17 to seal the win. The Huskies outshot Glenbard East 41-15 at the line.
“We knew we had to bring energy, we’re kind of a slow start team,” said Huskies forward Mike Keane. “It’s great to win this first one and stay in first place. Now we’ve just got to come back and beat West Aurora.”
In addition to the 53-51 fourth-quarter lead, Glenbard East led 11-4 in the first quarter and 32-22 late in the second quarter. Both times the Huskies responded including a 17-2 run that spanned between the second and third quarters.
A major key was Naperville North’s 35-19 rebounding advantage. Twelve were offensive boards.
“That’s what it came down to, rebounding and defensive breakdowns in the second half,” said Glenbard East assistant coach Austin Nelson. “That’s kind of been the story with us this season. I thought we came out on fire and with energy, but we’ve just got to be consistent.”
Keane, Kyle Lindberg and Westman combined for 23 rebounds and 39 points. While Keane tallied a game-high 22 points, Westman added 13 points off the bench and Matt Stacho scored 10 points.
Typical of the Huskies’ style this season, nine of the 10 players who played scored.
Bailey scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Rams while Pat Walsh tallied 13 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Marcel Cooper and Marvin Grant-Clark also fouled out for Glenbard East.
“Things didn’t go smoothly in the first half but they persevered,” said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. “Our kids played their buns off today.”