On Friday, Dec. 20, the Naperville North varsity boys basketball team faced the Metea Valley Mustangs on the road and lost in a tough battle.
The Huskies (6-3) fell to the Mustangs (7-2) by a score of 59-43.
The Huskies lost the opening tip and both teams got off to a slow start. Senior guard Rizwan Zubair (2) started the scoring for the Huskies with a tough bucket. The Huskies played tough defense throughout the whole first quarter. Junior guard Miles Okyne (4) and junior guard Carson Loughlin (3) pushed the offense by getting difficult shots. Junior forward Will Harvey (22) stayed tough on defense by grabbing multiple rebounds. The Huskies kept it close with the Mustangs with the score being 10-10 to end the first quarter. However, the Huskies started to fall out of rhythm in the second quarter and the Mustangs started to pull ahead. Loughlin and junior guard Antonio Brown Jr. (11) attempted to keep the offense motivated by getting difficult shots and playing hard-fought defense. The Huskies’ struggles continued throughout the rest of the half with the Mustangs pulling ahead for a score of 33-18. Loughlin comments on how the offense played in the first half.
“We just had to keep getting good shots, attack the rim, get our open shots,” Loughlin said.
In the second half, the Huskies began to get back into the game with some clutch baskets. The Mustangs kept pushing the pace though and the Huskies had a hard time cutting the lead to single digits. The Huskies played tough defense throughout the third quarter but couldn’t keep up the Mustangs scoring on offense. Heading into the final quarter of play, the Mustangs held the leaf with a score of 44-32. In the fourth quarter, Okyne started the scoring by getting physical at the rim and getting some tough layups. Brown continued the momentum by stepping up on defense and getting some huge buckets on offense. The Huskies gave it their all in the second half to try to pull off the comeback, but the Mustangs constant scoring made it tough for the Huskies to do so. The game ended in a loss for the Huskies, with a final score of 59-43. Okyne comments on how the Huskies adjusted going into the second half.
“It was really just trying to get guys on our hip, drive to the basket, and just try and kick out for threes, and find the open man,” Okyne said.
Despite the loss, the Huskies feel that they persevered well given that they were playing without junior guard Max Steele (5). Head Coach Gene Nolan remarks on how the team battled.
“I was proud of our kids, they battled back … it was pretty even in the second half, we just dug ourselves a little hole in the second quarter giving up twenty three points … This is definitely a game that we can learn and grow from,” Nolan said.
The Huskies’ next regular season game is on Friday, Jan. 3 at home against Prairie Ridge High School at 3 p.m.
