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Boys Basketball: Naperville North coasts by Wheaton North
Updated: January 27, 2012 11:05PM
Playing within the confines of your home gym has its distinct advantages.
The familiarity that comes with playing on your home floor is something Naperville North is becoming very accustomed to.
Recovering from yet another slow start, Naperville North used some hot shooting over the course of the game’s last three quarters to coast to a 66-56 victory over Wheaton North Friday night.
Naperville North coach Jeff Powers has pointed to his team tending to shoot better at home on a couple different occasions during the season.
Friday night was no different.
Paced by Max Lewis’ game-high 18 points off the bench, four different players scored in double figures for Naperville North (14-4, 7-0 DuPage Valley).
“I noticed that the team needed some energy and I got in the game and I had some energy, so I brought it,” said Lewis, who had 16 of his 18 in the second half. “We moved the ball around and got the open shots and I was hitting them.”
After only managing nine points in the first quarter, the Huskies tallied 57 points the rest of the way, highlighted by connecting on eight three-pointers as a team.
Three of the eight three-pointers came in the second quarter, courtesy of senior guard David Sinickas.
Sinickas’ three consecutive treys helped turn a four-point Naperville North lead into an 11-point advantage midway through the second quarter as Naperville North never trailed.
“That’s the great thing about this team. When Dave was hot, we found him three times in a row,” Powers said. “Three out of four times, they found him. That’s a sign of a good team when they find the guy that’s open. And then when Max got on fire, they just kept giving him touches and he really executed for us. (Lewis) gave us a big lift.”
The Huskies stretched out their overall winning streak and their home winning streak to five games each a night before a key conference showdown with Glenbard North in Carol Stream.
Coming into play Friday, Glenbard North and West Aurora both resided in a second-place tie in the DVC, one game behind Naperville North. West Aurora stayed a game behind the Huskies with its 42-38 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South.
“It’ll be a fun game tomorrow,” Powers said. “Glenbard North is just so athletic, so good. It’ll be chaotic, probably like (Friday night). We’ll have to figure out a way to match up (with) their athleticism. But I think our kids will probably go and compete hard and what happens after that, we’ll see.”
The Falcons mustered only five points on 1 of 11 shooting in the first quarter while turning the ball over six times in the quarter and 18 times for the game.
Three different players scored in double figures for Wheaton North (5-13, 1-7 DuPage Valley), led by junior center Andrew Zelis’ 16 points.
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