Charboneau sparks Neuqua Valley in win over Naperville North
A varsity newcomer, Neuqua Valley junior Whitman Charboneau has plenty of role models both on and off the basketball court. But the Wildcats guard also wants to make a name for himself, and Friday night was a great start.
Veteran sharpshooter Luke Kinkade came and did his usual things in the DuPage Valley Conference opener against Naperville North - knocking down a trio of 3-pointers early on and setting the stage for the Wildcats' impressive 66-49 home victory.
But Charboneau proved that he's ready to have an impact on this year's squad, tallying a game-high 19 points, adding 6 rebounds, playing tough defense and dishing out assists to seniors Kinkade, Colin Gerrity and Joe Balgro, each of whom played key roles in the hosts' hot-shooting night that kept the Huskies (3-2, 0-1) chasing the scoreboard all night long.
"That was an emphasis, to get out early. We kept the lead the whole game. We executed our offense and our defense," said Charboneau, whose team led 21-13 after one quarter and 34-23 at the half. "We've got a lot of good shooters so we just spread the ball around. Whoever they focus on [our] offense we just spread the ball around. The next guy up will make that shot."
On Friday it was indeed a variety of Wildcats who made the shots. Kinkade led all scorers with 11 points in the first half and opened the second half with another 3 to finish with 14 points on the night. Charboneau, meanwhile, knocked down three 3s and scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, making sure Naperville North could not pull off a comeback win. Four of the Wildcats' five starters reached double figures and John Bieber added 8 points and 8 rebounds.
When asked if he models his game after Kinkade's, the newcomer answered both yes and no.
"That's my guy," Charboneau said. "Everyone on this team is really tight. But I feel like I'm my own player. I like to pass a little, shoot a little, drive a little ... do all of that."
The Huskies were led by guards Cole Arl and Bryce Welch with 11 points each, but just couldn't stop the Wildcats' offense, which started hot in the first quarter (8-for-12 from the floor) and finished the night with 10 3-pointers.
Huskies coach Gene Nolan was impressed with the Wildcats (4-2, 1-0) strong team effort on Friday.
"Obviously Luke Kinkade is one of the best high school shooters I've ever seen, but they've also got others, so what that does is it spaces the floor because you've got to pay attention to so many of them," Nolan said. "Credit Neuqua, they came out and shot so well, so many guys. And defensively they were good as always."
Kinkade said the effort was the best he's seen his Wildcats produce against a strong zone defense, which the Huskies are known for using to frustrate opposing offenses.
"They're a great team and they have great zone defense," he said of Naperville North. "We spent so much time practicing to break the zone. It was great tonight. That was the best we played against the zone in my three years here."
Having Charboneau come up big to join the talented seniors didn't hurt matters any on Friday. The junior guard, whose father played college basketball, has developed a solid all-around game on the court.
"In the first half we couldn't miss," Kinkade said. "And Whitman, he doesn't seem like a one-year guy. He does everything right."