The Naperville North varsity boys basketball team locked down the Lake Park Lancers on Friday night, winning their first regional championship since 2018. 

The Huskies (17-15) defeated the Lancers (21-8) by a final score of 37-26.

After reigning victorious against crosstown rival Naperville Central on Wednesday, the Huskies hoped to continue their success in the playoffs against an unfamiliar Lake Park. North senior Zeke Williams, attributes the victory to intense preparation by the coaching staff. 

“Coach gave us a great scouting report and game plan on Lake Park and we executed on that,” Williams said.

Multiple steals and rebounds by the Huskies held Lake Park to just two points in the second quarter, ending the first half at 17-11. Senior Jake Torcasio believes that employing a variable zone coverage against the Lancers offense led to less scoring opportunities for the team.

“I think our defense set the tone for the game; having the ability to switch up from a 1-2-2 zone to a 1-3-1 zone was hard to go against and put pressure on Lake Park,” Torcasio said.

Naperville North continued their effective play-style through the second half, scoring 20 points while allowing just 15 from the Lancers. Senior Aidan Houston thinks the team’s recent success is due in part to the positive environment in the locker room. 

“After beating [Naperville] Central, we carried that energy into practice the next day and brought it against Lake Park and we shocked a lot of people because we believed in one another,” Houston said.

The Huskies take on the Illinois’ #1 ranked Glenbard West Hilltoppers at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 1 at Bartlett High School.

“[Glenbard West] is the best team in the state so we’re going to try and prove something,” Williams said.