Boys basketball victorious in Friday’s crosstown matchup
Photo by Jacob de Waard
The Naperville North Contest Gym was packed Friday for the first crosstown matchup of the 2017-18 basketball season between the Huskies and the Redhawks, and the Huskies took this game in a thriller.
The Naperville North Huskies (14-1, 6-0) defeated the Naperville Central Redhawks (10-3, 4-2) by a final score of 44-42.
The game-time atmosphere was amazing, with both schools’ student sections chanting at each other throughout the game, and was something NNHS head coach Jeff Powers took note of.
“The atmosphere was exceptional. The boys played hard with a lot of grit and overcame some mistakes that we made on offense, but I’m extremely proud of the guys right now. All the credit to Naperville Central, they played their hardest and poured their hearts out today,” Powers said.
The Huskies got to a sizable 7-point lead at halftime, 27-20. The scoring from the Huskies end wasn’t on pace for their season average of 66.7 PPG, and Powers was looking to speed up the tempo in the second half.
“We need to do a little better job on defending their 3-point shooters,” Powers added. He noted the play of Chris Johnson as a reason the first half went as well as it did, saying “I think Chris has been the key to our success early, and we need to just keeping working the ball offensively and a little bit defensively and I think we’ll be fine.”
After halftime, a seven point Huskie lead became five, and then two, and then the margin between the two teams fell to a single point. Key stops late in the fourth quarter kept the Redhawks away from the lead, however.
Senior Chris Johnson spoke about what consistencies the team found on the defensive side of the ball.
“We do the same thing every night, get low on defense, help middle. We know it’s going to differ from team to team, but it’s always the same premise on defense. Just play hard and don’t let anything through and we just emphasised that in practice and it’s really worked out,” Johnson said.
Junior Thomas Welch had to play the majority the intense fourth quarter with four fouls, making it very difficult to be aggressive on either side of the ball.
“Foul trouble is something I can sometimes struggle with, and in a game like this it shouldn’t have happened but it did. My teammates stepped up big, and that was the reason we won tonight,” Welch said.
The game came down to the wire, as after a Redhawks 3-pt attempt to tie the game rimmed out with eleven seconds left, senior Kevin Lang was sent to the free throw line with a chance to put the game out of reach. He hit both free throws to seal the deal.
Free throws sealed the deal in a big way for the Huskies, as the Redhawks sent seniors Jack Hill and Kevin Lang to the free throw line twice in the last 30 seconds.
Both players explained what they were thinking as they walked the length of the court to the free throw line.
“I’m obviously playing for my family right here, all the guys on the bench, and that was in my mind the whole time,” Lang said. “The free throws helped a lot during practice, and we knew it would come down to that.”
“Obviously it was a crazy atmosphere, both school brought all their students, and I just had confidence in my shot. I missed one earlier, so I knew I was going to hit the next one,” Hill said.
During halftime, former basketball coach Mark Lindo was honored for his work at Naperville North, and there was no one better to attend than former MLB player and North alum Jerry Hairston.
“It brings back a lot of memories, and it’s always great to see North beat Central… Whether it’s 1985, ‘95 or 2055,” Hairston said.
He also added that Lindo had a tremendous influence on so many lives, and that he was fortunate enough to have him as a coach in both basketball and baseball.
Also at halftime, the Dawg Pound, Naperville North’s student section was awarded for winning the Battle of the Fans Championship and was declared the “best student section in the state” by host and Comcast reporter Alyssa Gambla.
The Huskies now have a .933 winning percentage, and will carry that into their next game at home against the .500 Waubonsie Valley Warriors on Jan. 19.
Kirubel Mesfin is a senior at Naperville North High School and serves as the Sports Editor and Multimedia Director for The North Star. He is looking forward...
Jacob de Waard is a senior at Naperville North High School and is the Multimedia Producer for The North Star and The NOW. Jacob was born in New Jersey...
