The girls basketball team (11-9, 3-4 DVC) lost to Naperville Central (12-13, 6-1 DVC) 56-61 on Thursday, Jan 29.

Throughout the game, the District 203 rivals fought back and forth for the lead, each pressing hard defensively. Head coach Jason Dycus said that while his team played well, there is room for improvement.

“There was no quit in the Huskies,” Dycus said. “I just think we have some girls struggling right now. We’re searching for a second and third scorer. I think that’s obvious. But we’re going to keep fighting, and we’re going to keep plugging away.”

Senior guard Kayla Sharples helped establish the lead early in the game and continued to dominate the court for the full 32 minutes of play. Scoring 32 of the team’s 56 points, Sharples sunk six field goals before the third quarter. She helped the Huskies lead at halftime, 25-23. With a strong layup and clutch free-throw, Sharples said she was happy she could help her team against their top-seated, DVC rivals.

“Playing our rival team, we obviously wanted to leave it all out there on the floor,” Sharples said. “Personally, I tried to do whatever I could to contribute to the game because I really wanted us to win.”

For the entire game, both teams looked to gain a convincing lead over the other, but to no avail. With the gap never reaching past single digits, the lead went back and forth from the Huskies to Redhawks. With less than 20 seconds remaining, Sharples looked to close the two-point gap with a lay-up. She took to the hoop, and the ball sat on the rim for seconds. The audience fell silent. As it rolled off to the side, NCHS rejoiced. From that point forward, the Redhawks diminished any hopes that NNHS held.

With a combined total of 16 seniors on the floor, the pressure was high for both teams to leave with a victory. Sharples and her fellow seniors have played against these same girls for their entire high school careers. And heading onto the court yesterday, she knew it would probably be the last time she would play her crosstown rivals.

“The Central girls, especially their seniors, are great players and great athletes,” Sharples said. “We knew that going in. We knew that a year ago, and we knew that two years ago. As for playing them again and playing them for the last time, we wanted to leave it all out there.”