Boys basketball: Defense marks Naperville North win against rival Naperville Central

At times Friday night each team went long stretches without scoring, but as always is the case when Naperville North and Naperville Central do battle, the tough physical play was on display nonstop.

In the end it was the Huskies who toughed out a 44-33 defeat of their rivals to improve to 6-2 on the year and 2-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference. Naperville Central, which took the floor fresh off an impressive defeat of Sycamore two nights earlier, dropped to 3-4, 0-2.

Naperville North limited the Redhawks to 2 points in the second quarter and led 21-12 at the half. The lead got as big as 37-23 following a three-point play from Carson Loughlin late in the third quarter, and things were looking great for the visitors.

But the Huskies then went on a scoring drought of their own that saw them score a single point over about eight minutes of play. Naperville Central closed to within 38-33 following a fastbreak bucket from Casey Cooperkawa off a nice feed from TJ Hillman.

The Huskies then picked up their first basket of the quarter when Miles Okyne scored off an inbounds pass under the rim and Naperville North closed out the game with a 6-0 run to seal the victory.

“We knew Central came off a big win Wednesday against Sycamore, so we knew they had a lot of momentum coming in,” said Loughlin, who led his team with 13 points and 11 rebounds. “But we got off to a good start on the year and we just want to keep building off it.

“Honestly, we didn’t get off to the best start (tonight), but what’s important is we came out strong in the second half. It was a good defensive game. I think that’s where it all started for us.”

The Redhawks knocked down 11 3-pointers in Wednesday’s comeback win over Sycamore, but on Friday the shots just didn’t fall often enough. They made just 2 of 18 shots from beyond the arc.

“They’re a really difficult cover defensively. They had 11 made 3s Wednesday night against Sycamore and they’re really hard to defend because of their ability to space the floor like that,” Huskies coach Gene Nolan said. “When we were struggling to score we were able to get some stops defensively to hang on for that stretch. We’ve got a lot to get better at, but we’ve got a great group of kids.”

The Huskies have a veteran group this season and their experience is playing a key role in the team’s fast start. Junior Jack Zitko had 8 points and 5 steals on Friday and he was surrounded by a quartet of senior starters who worked hard in the offseason.

“Carson’s a really lengthy player and also very high energy,” Zitko said of his teammate.

“The whole team has just gotten faster and more athletic. The physicality has stepped up for everybody, especially Carson.”

Hillman paced the Redhawks with 15 points and 5 boards, but the shots didn’t fall quite as often as they had two nights earlier when he scored a personal-best 32 points.

“We missed too many shots,” Hillman said. “We got sped up early on and had too many turnovers. Once we settled down we were all right. We were right there at the end, if we hit another shot or two … that’s what basketball is. We’re 3-4 against some pretty solid teams, so I think we’re coming along.”