Girls basketball: Naperville North rides fast start to victory against Barrington
Naperville North set the tone with the first 10 points of Saturday's sixth annual Grow the Game Showcase against host Barrington.
Though the Fillies made a comeback and never gave up, the Huskies held on for a 48-40 win.
“We were really ready to play,” said Naperville North coach Aly Miller. “We were excited to play after the Christmas break. We started the game with a lot of energy and it was good to play with the lead. We play our ball press for 32 minutes and we have the depth to do that.”
Sophomore Sydney Smith, who was 10 for 13 from the free-throw line, led the Huskies (13-4) with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
“After my freshman year on the varsity, the coaches wanted to be more aggressive,” said Smith, the Huskies player of the game.
“They wanted me to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line. I took the ball to the basket and got layups and to the free-throw line.”
Miller was impressed with Smith's play Saturday and her improvement from last season.
“We wanted Sydney to be more aggressive this season,” Miller said. “She was nervous to shoot last season. She is getting to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. She had a great game today.”
The Huskies' 10-0 start was spearheaded by 5 points from Ava Podkasik, 3 points from Sam Kelly and a basket from Mia Podkasik.
Barrington's (6-9) first basket of the game came on a 3-pointer from Isla Koertner with 2:23 left in the initial quarter to make the score 10-3.
Naperville North's biggest lead of the game was 30-17 after a layup by Katie Walker with 6:10 left in the third quarter.
The Fillies (6-9) didn't quit and responded with a 6-0 run to slice Naperville North's lead to 30-23 with 3:45 remaining in the quarter.
The run was keyed by a 3-pointer by Maddie Anderle.
Barrington got to within 43-39 on a putback Simra Alain with 1:45 left in the game.
The hosts couldn't get any closer.
The Fillies were led by Anderle with 9 points on three 3-pointers. Alain scored 8 points with 7 rebounds, and Koertner, Barrington's player of the game, tallied 7 points.