Oswego upends Naperville North
Oswego did what it does best to end Naperville North’s season.
The Panthers used their speed and quickness to beat out the Huskies’ size and strength as No. 12 seed Oswego toppled regular-season DuPage Valley Conference champion and No. 5 seed Naperville North by a 65-53 margin in a Class 4A regional semifinal contest Wednesday night in Oswego.
“(Naperville North) is fundamental, big and strong and we don’t have that,” Oswego coach Kevin Schnable said, “but what we do have is that athleticism, quickness and speed. We were going to do what we do — and we did that tonight.”
The Panthers (18-10), who have won six straight and nine of 10, will host No. 4 seed West Aurora at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the regional championship.
Miles Simelton, Elliot McGaughy and Thomas Wilder a trio of junior guards, were Oswego’s catalysts. Consistently they beat defenders off the dribble and penetrated into the heart of Naperville North’s zone defenses, which freed up space on the perimeter and contributed to Oswego making six 3-pointers.
“We knew we were a much quicker team coming in, and our coaches told us to push the ball and use our quickness and speed to our advantage,” Simelton said.
Naperville North coach Jeff Powers agreed that their speed made a difference.
“Their guards are very, very good,” Powers said.
“They did always seem to have an answer. They were well prepared. They executed well and knock down shots. We didn’t make shots, but that had nothing to do with our effort.”
The game was tight throughout the first half. The Huskies (19-8) managed to take their largest lead at 26-23 after Anthony Rehayem’s 3-pointer, but the Panthers closed the first half on a 7-0 run and led 30-26 at intermission. They would never trail again.
Oswego extended its lead to 50-37 by the end of the third quarter thanks to some hot shooting as the Panthers connected on 8 of their first 11 field-goal attempts in the period. Oswego also was very aggressive defensively, and it paid off by forcing 19 turnovers.
“We really got up on them and pressured them, which made them uncomfortable,” Simelton said.
Naperville North did close to within 55-49 with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, but the Panthers made 6 of 8 free throws in the final minutes to close out the victory.
Huskies post man Derek Westman scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. Fellow forward Mike Kean added 16 points.
Powers was positive about Naperville North’s campaign, despite the sudden quick exit from the postseason.
“I was so blessed to take this team that people had pegged for a sixth-place finish and win the conference title and win 19 games — all because these guys left their ego at the door and played together,” Powers said. “This group was a coach’s dream.”