Naperville North falls to DeKalb for second time

DeKalb forward Demarrea Davis said his coaches told him he had the potential for a big game on the glass against Naperville North on Friday.

Thirteen rebounds, 13 points and one 52-34 win for the host Barbs later, he proved his coaches right.

"My coaches told me before the game even started, we were watching film, and they said this is the game for you," Davis said. "You're going to get a lot of offensive rebounds. They wanted me to be prepared for this game. And I was prepared for it."

In a rematch of a game at the Oswego tournament won 59-34 by DeKalb, Naperville North coach Gene Nolan said he thought his team showed a lot of improvement this time around against the Barbs (6-2, 2-0 DuPage Valley Conference).

"They're really difficult to defend because they have so many weapons and are athletic off the bounce," Nolan said. "They can break you down off the dribble, they've got multiple scorers, they can shoot from the arc. I think we're getting better. We played them at Thanksgiving and we're improving."

But Davis and the Barbs proved too much for the Huskies (2-5, 1-1), especially in the second quarter. Naperville North trailed by 1 after one quarter, helped out by 6 turnovers that led to 7 of their 9 points in the period.

But the Barbs turned it over three times in the second quarter, expanding the lead to 30-18 at halftime.

"I thought that was the best defensive half we've had all year," DeKalb coach Mike Reynolds said. "We were a little choppy offensively, but defensively we were tough-minded. We did what we wanted to on the glass. ... We turned the ball over a lot more in the first half then we normally do. But I think we cleaned that up in the second half for the most part."

The Huskies got it back to 30-22 early in the third, but freshman Sean Reynolds drained back-to-back 3-pointers to grow the lead back to 14. It never dipped below 10 again.

Davis had a steal and a layup with 1:40 left in the game, putting an exclamation mark on the win by pushing the lead to 50-34.

"It's a good feeling cause last year I wasn't doing all the things I'm doing this year," Davis said. "I improved a lot from my junior season to my senior season so I'm proud of that."

Mike Reynolds said both Davis and Davion Hines, who scored 8 points and grabbed 3 rebounds, are performing well down low despite almost always being at a size disadvantage.

DeKalb finished with a 26-13 edge on the boards, with Davis grabbing as many rebounds as the Huskies did as a team.

"Once the first game or two was over he's been really, really good," the coach said. "I thought his buddy Davion came in and played really well too. I'm proud of those guys. They're undersized, they battle, they do what we ask and good things happen."

Sean Reynolds added 11 for the Barbs. Lane McVicar was the focal point of the Huskies' defense, managing just 6 points but taking just 4 shots. He also grabbed 8 rebounds.

Luke Williams led the way for the Huskies with 12 points plus played disruptive defense with 4 steals. Zeke Williams added 4 points, a team-best 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Cole Arl and Charlie Farrell added 5 points each for Naperville North.

"He is one of the best players we'll face all year," Nolan said of McVicar. "I thought we did as good as a job as we could on a great player. He is so hard to guard."