The boys basketball team defeated Glenbard North (GBN)  in the last game of the regular season last night, Feb. 25.

Once senior forward Chris Gajcak put his team ahead with a 3-pointer, the Huskies (15-10, 6-3 DVC) never let go of the lead. Starting out with a 3-0 edge in the first minute of play, Naperville North finished the night 62-41.

Head coach Jeff Powers was impressed by his team’s overall performance on Wednesday, but he was especially proud of their defensive tenacity.

“We keep telling the boys that if they share the ball, we’ll all get points and all get assists,” Powers said. “They did a good job of sharing the ball. More importantly, they did a really good job with defensive rebounding, and the second half we did a nice job of pushing the ball up.”

With NNHS favored to win last night’s game, the Huskies were uneasy with only a 3-point lead at the end of the first quarter. According to senior guard Baylor Griffin, the boys doubled their efforts to widen the gap.

“We knew we just had to pick it up,” Griffin said. “We came out flat. We weren’t stopping them on defense. They were scoring on us so we had to make a change. And we did.”

It was Griffin who led the scoring on Friday, putting up 13 points within 32 minutes of play. But help came from all fronts for NNHS, with five players scoring over six points. The Huskies forced ten turnovers and closed their opponents out for the remaining three quarters.

Heading into the playoffs, NNHS’ first match will be a rematch against GBN (3-21,0-10 DuPage Valley Conference). According to Powers, the Huskies look to see how this team will come back at them during the West Aurora Regional Tournament this coming Monday, March 2. 

“[GBN’s coach] is a crafty coach, a veteran,” Powers said. “He’s going to have something up his sleeve. I’m sure we’re gonna have to battle some obstacles on Monday.”