Naperville North closing in on title
Naperville North took another step toward its first DuPage Valley Conference title in 14 years.
Led by Anthony Rehayem's game-high 22 points, the Huskies used a strong second half to pull away from visiting Glenbard East, beating the two-time defending conference champion 47-42 Friday night in Naperville.
Naperville North ran its overall record to 17-6, 10-1 in the DVC, and will face second-place West Aurora at home next Friday.
"This team is all about taking it one game at a time," Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. "We have West Aurora coming up next Friday, and that's what the guys are focused on right now."
Glenbard East (11-11, 5-6) stayed ahead of the Huskies for much of the night. The Rams took a 12-11 lead at the start of the second quarter on a running lay-in by Marvin Grant-Clark that started a 7-0 run. The Rams managed to hold onto that lead until five minutes remained in the game.
Their lead grew to as high as 7 after a baseline 3-pointer by Patrick Walsh put the Rams up 32-25 midway through the third quarter.
That's when Rehayem and teammate Mike Keane took over as the duo combined to score 19 of their team's final 22 points.
Rehayem started the comeback with a 10-footer at the four-minute mark of the third quarter, the Huskies' first field goal of the second half. Keane followed with a baseline 3-pointer, cutting the Rams' lead to 32-30.
"Every game someone else gets hot," Rehayem said. "We know how to find the open shooter and we're confident they'll knock it down."
Rehayem closed the third quarter with a baseline 3 of his own to trim the Glenbard East lead down to 36-35.
The lead changed hands four times in the final 5:24. Tahron Harvey scored Glenbard East's final points of the night on a drive and layup with 1:23 left that tied the game at 42.
However, Harvey picked up his fourth and fifth fouls of the game on the Huskies' next two possessions, sending Rehayem to the line both times. In all, Rehayem finished 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final 45 seconds to seal the win.
"You have to give Naperville North credit. They stepped up and made their free throws when they needed to and put themselves in position to get to the free-throw line," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "We had opportunities down the stretch, but we just didn't get it done."