Boys basketball: Naperville North pulls away from rival in second half

With 5:58 remaining in the third quarter Friday in Naperville North’s contest against visiting Naperville Central, a hush fell over the crowd that had packed the house to witness the rivalry.

Huskies guard Max Steele, a senior who had played a terrific game up to that point, took a hard fall to the court while driving to the basket to attempt a layup.

Steele writhed in pain for a few moments, then ultimately was able to make his way to the bench with some assistance.

“It was a tough fall, nothing I could do about it,” said the senior, who hurt his knee on the play. “I had to go out and go to the training room."

At that moment, Naperville North was locked into a tough battle with the Redhawks. But despite the absence of Steele, who didn’t return to the game, his teammates had his back.

The Huskies turned a 26-25 halftime deficit into a 50-34 lead after three quarters, and went on the win the DuPage Valley tilt going away by the score of 63-42.

Six-foot-4 senior guard Miles Okyne paced the Huskies attack with 19 points.

“This means a lot,” said Steele, who said he was feeling “all right” after the game. “It shows how much (my teammates) care about this rivalry, about this school, about all the fans that showed up. We have so many other leaders, and what great win against a great opponent.”

Senior TJ Hillman scored a game high 21 points for the Redhawks, who led most of the way in the first half but struggled after intermission.

“I think collectively we saw one of the best halves of basketball we’ve played all season,” said Naperville Central coach Mike Wilson. “We knew we were up for a challenge against Naperville North, they’re well-coached and they’re disciplined. I’m glad we met the challenge tonight, we just couldn’t sustain it for four quarters.”

Naperville Central (9-15, 1-6) ran out to an early 15-8 lead, but Naperville North (18-6, 6-1) used pressure defense after a second quarter time out to get back in the game.

“Obviously a great team on the other side that we were playing,” said Steele, “and they came out hitting their shots. We had talked all week about if they’re hitting from three, they’ll be very tough to beat. We were giving them some open looks, and we knew we had to take it to another gear. We’ve been flying around all week and we were finally able to get some turnovers and get out in transition.”

Okyne had 11 points in the third quarter, leading Naperville North on a 16-5 run to open the stanza. The Huskies took a 16-point advantage into the fourth quarter, and when 6-5 junior Reid Montanari brought the Huskies faithful to their feet with a dunk early in the fourth, the lead was 63-37.

Naperville Central couldn’t get any closer than the final score.

Carson Loughlin pitched in with 12 points for Naperville North, as did Steele, while Will Harvey added 11. The Huskies excelled at the free throw line, hitting 17-of-22.

Naperville Central sophomore Ty Hughes, in his first varsity action, finished with 9 points.

“We’ve seen some really nice things from him in the program,” said Wilson of Hughes, “and for him to step up like he did was great. And TJ Hillman is going to be a 1,000 point scorer for us in the next couple of weeks. He came ready to play, and our boys fought really hard for four quarters.”