Wheaton North 69, Naperville North 54

Wheaton North senior Kristian Rosenberger felt good things could be coming his way Friday night in Wheaton.

After sinking 2 of his first 3 field goal attempts, Rosenberger locked into a game-long zone, tying a season high with 30 points and leading the Falcons to a 69-54 victory over Naperville North.

"If I make one of my first two shots, it feels good and I kind of get confident throughout the game," Rosenberger said. "My shot started me off, and then my teammates helped me out getting open, we got a lot of fastbreak opportunities that we finished on. All that together just helped me out."

The 6-foot Rosenberger nailed five 3s for the night, stretching the Huskies' defense and providing Wheaton North (8-1, 4-0 DuPage Valley Conference) a formidable outside threat to complement center John Bagge, who finished with 18 points.

The Falcons hounded Naperville North for all 32 minutes, collecting 11 steals that further fueled their offensive attack.

"That's one of the things we try to pride ourselves on," Rosenberger said. "If you play tough defense, that's like your best offense, and so you'll be able to convert off the steals. That's what we try to do each game."

Wheaton North's starters combined for all but 2 of the Falcons' points as solid team chemistry helped keep the home team from letting the Huskies creep any closer than 11 points in the second half.

"We've been playing together for a while," Rosenberger said. "We've got chemistry because we've been playing so long together, and all that together just makes us a good team."

Naperville North (3-7, 0-4 DVC) coach Mark Lindo was quick to tip his cap to the Falcons afterward.

"They're an outstanding basketball team," Lindo said. "That's a state-caliber basketball team that plays with incredible purpose and passion. They can test just about everything you do.

"It's going to take supreme efforts for somebody to beat them."

Friday marked the first time Naperville North has dropped a game by more than 4 points all year.

"Throughout the first six losses, it's been almost like a Groundhog Day thing to come in and try to keep them believing," Lindo said. "We've told our team 'something good is going to happen. The question is when.'

"All the pieces of the puzzle still haven't been there. Hopefully we're going to grow from this, and some other guys are going to develop and we're going to end up with even more depth than we have."