Boys basketball: Balgro’s big second half helps Neuqua Valley down Naperville North

Neuqua Valley junior forward Luke Balgro was the first to admit that he didn’t do a lot in the first half. Indeed, he had only six points during that time.

But Balgro turned it on in the second half, scoring 15 of his 21 points to make the difference for the Wildcats in Friday’s 58-54 win over Naperville North — a game that pitted the top two teams in the DuPage Valley Conference.

“I knew I had a quiet first half,” Balgro said. “I kind of got some motivation. I knew I had to turn up in order to win. Mason (Martin) and Cole (Kelly) are great players, so they're gonna get hard defense. So I just knew I had to create my own space and just score.”

For almost the entire game, it was impossible to know who really was in control. The Wildcats (15-1, 4-0) didn’t even have the biggest lead for either team. That went to the Huskies (14-4, 4-1), who held a 21-15 advantage in the second quarter.

Trailing 52-50 in the fourth, Neuqua Valley went on a 7-0 run to go up five, culminating in a goaltending call.

Miles Okyne scored for Naperville North to make it a one-possession game with only seconds left. William Harvey then intentionally fouled Danny Mikuta, who made the second of two free throws to finally settle the matter.

Okyne was the reason this even was a game until the end. After a scoreless first quarter, he poured in 31 points, including four 3-pointers. He was responsible for all but six of the Huskies’ 29 second-half points.

Kelly achieved an even double-double for the Wildcats of 15 points and 15 rebounds while also dishing out four assists. Five points apiece came from Martin, Andrew Hoffman and Carter Coviello.

“A lot of guys are stepping up,” said Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton. “They're improving their game every day. Carter's had some wonderful games. Luke — not a good first half but a second half that was just fantastic. And Danny's been solid for us the whole year, but maybe Andrew Hoffman's defense might have definitely changed it for us because we could not guard (Okyne).”

Jack Zitko helped get the Huskies off to a good start by scoring all nine of his points on three first-half 3-pointers. Max Steele also contributed nine points over the second and third quarters. Harvey had nine rebounds and matched Zitko with three assists.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” Naperville North coach Gene Nolan said. “We’ll learn from it. We're gonna grow from this. It was like a regional championship type atmosphere, and it was great for us to be a part of that game. And credit to Neuqua. They're a great team.”