Naperville North wins convincingly

The outcome wasn't nearly as close this time around.

Naperville North squeaked out a 1-point victory against West Chicago back on Dec. 16, but Friday night's 53-29 triumph over the visiting Wildcats was never in doubt.

The Huskies held their opponent to 27 percent shooting from the field, outrebounded them 27-12 and knocked down 11 3-pointers en route to the easy victory.

"We were proud of our guys getting out to a fast start tonight," Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. "We played very well defensively, and in our gym we can shoot. With all the shooters we have, it's hard to guard them all at the same time."

Naperville North (16-5, 9-1) never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 10-0 lead that started with a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony Rehayem. Derek Westman closed the half with back-to-back 3-pointers of his own to give his team an 18-7 lead after one quarter.

Chris Mullen extended the Huskies' lead to 22-9 on a running layup along the baseline.

After a three-point play by West Chicago's John Konchar, Naperville North extended its lead to 15 behind a 3-pointer from David Sinickas and an inside basket from Mike Keane.

Jumpers by Mundt and Josh Gimre along with a pair of free throws by Mundt to close out the second half cut the Wildcats' deficit down to 11.

Down 29-18 heading into the third quarter, West Chicago's (5-16, 0-10) shooting woes continued as the Huskies connected on just 5 of 23 field goals in the entire second half.

"We've got to work harder," West Chicago coach Kevin Baldus said. "We weren't making the stops we needed to make, and when we would get our shots, we weren't making them."

Naperville North hit on 9 field goals in the second half, 6 of them from beyond the 3-point arc.

"We've generally been slow starters, so we wanted to win the first quarter and go from there," Keane said.

Rehayem led all scorers with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Westman added 10 points, including his two first-quarter 3-point baskets.

Mundt led West Chicago with 9 points, while Konchar and Gimre each added 7 for the Wildcats.

"We were knocking down our 3s and I think that gave them some trouble," Powers said. "West Chicago is a scrappy team, and we had to be just as scrappy."