New year, improved team. After struggling in their last two conference games of 2016 and finishing 3-1 in the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament, the Naperville North boys basketball team got off to a hot start in 2017 with two conference wins in two days. Senior guard Mitch Lewis elaborated on the team’s response to those disappointing conference losses, and how they carried over the lessons learned into the new year.

“We knew we had to pick it up and we played pretty well in the Jack Tosh tournament,” said Lewis.

On Friday, the Huskies began the new year on the right foot, beating Glenbard North 62-44 at home.

“I am very proud of our guys,” said head coach Jeff Powers, “We worked extremely hard last week to prepare for this moment and start off the new year this way.”

A key contributor in the game was junior guard Jack Hill. Hill, who has seen very few minutes thus far, had 16 points off the bench, including going 4-4 from downtown in a 14-point 2nd quarter. Lewis led the team with 18 points. Glenbard North (8-6, 2-3) was unable to stay close after Hill went off in the 2nd quarter.

The next night, the Huskies again had to face a conference opponent at home. The visiting Neuqua Valley Wildcats came in off of three straight wins.

The Huskies jumped on top early, leading 23-11 at the end of the 1st quarter. By the end of the 3rd, the lead had dissipated to only 45-41 in the Huskies favor. The Wildcats stayed close in the opening minutes of the final quarter, but were unable to keep the Huskies back from pulling away. Thanks in part to Mitch Lewis’ 19 points, the Huskies were able to comfortably win 72-63.

Neuqua Valley (8-6, 3-3), led by double-digit scorers, Blaise Meredith, Noah Herdman and Alex Filo, were unable to catch up despite strong 2nd and 3rd quarters.

“We stopped sharing the ball a little bit and we let them penetrate a little bit, said Powers. “When you get a big lead sometimes that happens.”

Two DVC victories in a span of two days is a good start for Naperville North (10-4, 5-2), who have a week to prepare for a marquee matchup on the road against Naperville Central on Jan. 13.

“We just want to keep it going and go on a roll,” said Lewis.