By Sports Editor Jay Ahuja

The NNHS boys’ basketball team began the season last week with the annual Hoops For Healing tournament. The Huskies played four games overall in the tournament, the first two at home, and the last two at Oswego. After coming off a rough 70-56 home loss to Benet, the Huskies’ won the next three games and placed third in the tournament. NNHS senior Anthony Rehayem, team captain, and starting shooting guard for the past three years, predicts a bright season for the Huskies.

“With three wins and one loss, I think we started the season off great. It showed us where we stand and where we are headed this season,” Rehayem said.

NNHS senior Jayson Winick has also had a huge impact to the Huskies’ early success. Winick is second on the team in points per game and steals per game behind Rehayem, and believes that NNHS can compete with anyone in the state this season.

“Our only loss was to Benet, which is a team with some very talented players. They are ranked fourth in the area and we were able to maintain the lead going into halftime,” Winick said. “We have a solid group of returning players, and with the addition of our young players and transfers, we have the talent necessary to win a lot of games.”

Two transfers, one from Indiana and the other from Pennsylvania, were starters on their previous teams and have made quite an impression since their arrival on the NNHS team. Senior Ashton Elston hasn’t started the season the way  he had hoped to, but after playing for the successful Caramel high school team in Indiana, Elston knows his game will get back on track. In the meantime, Elston has claimed the responsibility of team leader, constantly encouraging and motivating teammates.

Junior Baylor Griffin on the other hand has emerged as not only a permanent starter, but a potential all-conference player. Griffin, who moved from the small town of Doylestown in Pennsylvania, is averaging a team high seven rebounds and is third on the team in scoring with nine points a game.

Griffin is also one of the 10 players on the 17-man roster who is a junior or younger, making the team one of the youngest in the DuPage Valley Conference.

The captain of the Huskies isn’t worried at all.

“We have seniors on this team that do a great job of mentoring the younger players,” Rehayem said. “Being a younger team means we have a lot of athletic kids who can impact the game when they’re in.”

According to Winick, when the team is able to mash and gain unity, success is inevitable.

“Once we get our chemistry down and learn how to play as one, we are going to be a tough team to beat,” Winick said.