Boys Basketball: Balanced Niles North stays hot, romps Hersey

Updated: February 11, 2012 7:02PM

Niles North, which has won 12 of its last 14 games, hit Hersey so hard in the mouth in the first period that the Huskies never fully recovered, falling 80-60 in Skokie on Saturday.

The Vikings’ (17-7) smothering defense forced 10 turnovers in the opening eight minutes, giving Niles North a 33-15 lead after the first period.

The Huskies (10-13) turned the ball over on their first three possessions and had five turnovers in the opening two minutes. The Vikings showed no sympathy, taking advantage of every Hersey mistake.

Malachi Nix (21 points) stole a pass with 2:52 left in the period, took it the length of the court, scored and was fouled. His free throw made it 20-13 in favor of the Vikings. After a five-second violation on Hersey, Michael Henley (15 pts) scored off an inbound pass. The 8-0 run was capped off by a three on the next possession by Nix to make it 25-13 with 2:02 left in the quarter.

Henley put the exclamation point on the quarter by connecting on a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“We begin and end with defense,” Nix said. “We had to come out and get a good lead with the defense. We know that the offense will take care of itself.”

Tafari Beckford, who finished with a game-high 22 points, helped put the game beyond doubt in the third. His nine points, including two threes, gave the Vikings a 66-45 lead heading into the final period.

“We’re definitely back on track,” Beckford said. “We just play hard like coach [Glenn Olson] wants us to play and it gets us wins.”

Trevor Haas led the Huskies in scoring with 16 points.

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