The boys basketball team defeated Glenbard North High School (GBN) for the first round of the IHSA 4A regional tournament. The team traveled to West Aurora High School to bring home its victory on Monday, March 2.

The Huskies (16-10) finished the night with a 60-49 lead against the Panthers. According to head coach Jeff Powers, GBN was more tenacious than they were during last Wednesday’s game, and the Huskies’ defense had to adjust accordingly.

“Their team did a great job,” Powers said. “We ran a couple zone things, and that didn’t work. We got out of it and basically played all-man defense, and we did a pretty good job with that. Coach Larson had a great game plan, executed it. Complements to them.”

It was senior guard Baylor Griffin who helped lead the first quarter, scoring seven of the teams 12 points by the end of the period. Heading into the second period, GBN (3-22) was determined to reclaim the lead from the Huskies. Both teams sought to gain the edge and widen the gap before halftime, both to no avail.

With three seconds remaining in the first half, the Huskies trailed the Panthers 25-24. A foul on GBN had negated a lay-up made by senior forward Deon Merrill, and now the Huskies looked to make a play before halftime. After the throw-in, Griffin was found under the net. Having one chance with the lay-up, Griffin took the lead for the Huskies, 26-25.

The Huskies found an edge in the second half. Scoring 14 unanswered points, NNHS seemed in a good position to finish the night out on top. Playing a vital role in the drive was sophomore guard Cam Hardy, who scored eight of his 13 points in the third quarter alone. According to Hardy, the team played better fundamental basketball in the second half to help bolster their momentum.

“At halftime, coach wanted us to pick up the momentum and keep it going,” Hardy said. “We worked up three-point shooting, layups and getting over screens. In the first half we didn’t do that, so he wanted us to pick it up. And that’s what we did.”

The fourth quarter seemed similar to the first two, with impressive scoring from both sides of the court. In the end, GBN could not find a way to close the gap and trailed NNHS 60-49 at the final buzzer.

The Huskies will play tournament host West Aurora in the regional semifinals this Wednesday, March 4. Despite the fierce opposition expected from the Blackhawks (18-8), Powers remains confident that his team can advance to the regional finals.

“We like this gym,” Powers said. “We’ve been pretty successful here. Our kids have played a really tough schedule, and I think our sophomores have grown up. So we’re excited about the challenge they give us.”