On Friday, Jan. 24, the Naperville North varsity boys basketball team faced the DeKalb Barbs at home and lost by a score of 49-39.
The Huskies (12-10) lost to Barbs (15-5) by a score of 49-39.
The Huskies lost the opening tip but still managed to start the game off strong. Sophomore guard Jack Zitko (12) got the scoring started for the Huskies by hitting a 3-pointer. Junior guard Miles Okyne (4) kept the strong start by making multiple strong shots. The Huskies and the Barbs played a back-and-forth on offense with both teams continuously making difficult shots. The Huskies kept it close and had a 14-13 lead over the Barbs at the end of the first quarter. Yet, in the second quarter, the Huskies began to fall out of sync, giving the Barbs a chance to get back in the lead. Zitko and junior guard Max Steele (5) helped the Huskies remain contenders by hitting some huge shots, leading to a comeback for the Huskies offense. However, it was still a struggle to stop DeKalb’s offensive force. The Barbs made a 3-point shot at the end of the quarter to make their lead 28-22 going into the half. Steele commented on how the Huskies’ defense could improve.
“In the first half we allowed them to get too many good looks from three,” Steele said.
In the second half, the Huskies got off to a slow start, which allowed the Barbs to increase their lead. Despite this, the Huskies kept playing tough offense and defense and started to slowly work their way back into the game. Near the end of third quarter the Huskies had started to hit their rhythm but still struggled stopping the Barbs’ aggressive offense. The Barbs led the Huskies 40-33 going into the fourth quarter. The Huskies started off the fourth with a quick shot but unfortunately had trouble keeping up their offensive game. The Barbs started running a lot off the clock, which made it difficult for the Huskies to get the ball back on offense. As a result of this, the Huskies lost by a score of 49-39. Zitko talked about how the Huskies build off each other’s energy and how they usually click on offense.
“As soon as we get one bucket, everything just starts to click for us and we get more energy like that,” Zitko said.
Despite the loss, the Huskies played a strong game against a tough DeKalb team. Head Coach Gene Nolan elaborated on how the Huskies battled throughout.
“We took a step forward in getting better today… we shared the ball on offense with just a couple possessions we couldn’t finish,” Nolan said.
The Huskies’ next regular season game is on Friday, Jan. 31 on the road against Naperville Central High School at 7 p.m.
