Naperville North defeats WW South again
Seldom is the sequel as good as the original, and Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Healy didn’t like the original.
Naperville North moved to 2-0 this season against the Tigers, winning 51-35 on Thursday to capture the consolation championship of York’s 37th annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
“We watched some tape of the first time we played them, and it was ugly,” Healy said. “And nothing really changed.”
That was beautiful for the Huskies, who beat WW South 47-38 on Dec. 17, the day before holiday break.
In Elmhurst, Naperville North (6-6) held WW South to 11-of-40 shooting from the floor and grabbed 31 rebounds to 13 for the Tigers (6-6).
As WW South ace guard Reilly O’Toole said, “That’s pretty much the game right there.”
When he wasn’t whipping a 40-foot baseball pass to an open teammate inside, 5-foot-11 Huskies point guard Jovonn Griffin rose among the trees to snare 11 rebounds. Forward Jake DuPré had a second straight solid game with a game-high 15 points and 8 rebounds.
“This means a lot to us,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said of the consolation title. “Our kids are now starting to believe, they’re understanding their roles, they’re understanding what they can do, and they’re playing a lot better defense.”
As in “defenses.” One of Powers’ trademarks is keeping teams guessing. Opening in a 2-1-2 zone with 12-point scorer John Mengel in the middle, the Huskies ran man-to-man, a couple different full-court presses and particularly a box-and-1 with primarily Nick Buege guarding O’Toole.
Buege and O’Toole each scored 13 points. For Naperville North, that’s a win.
“It’s all about keeping in front of him, and I got help from all my teammates on screens,” said Buege, crowding O’Toole even 40 feet from the hoop. “Everyone’s there to help and hedge, and I’d come over and stay right on him.”
The first quarter was tied 10-10, but Naperville North increasingly pulled away. The Huskies led 23-18 at halftime when Mengel and DuPré took over to extend it to 38-27 entering the fourth quarter.
Hitting 11 of 12 fourth-quarter free throws, Naperville North led 51-32 with 1:57 to play.
“In practice we work on transition, and Jake DuPré and Mengel, they run,” Griffin said. “They’re not the biggest guys, so they’ve got to find a way to score and I just look for them.”