Boys Basketball: Naperville North’s sharp shooting topples DeKalb

For a team that is heavy on shooters and short on size and experience, Tuesday’s Hoops for Healing game against DeKalb couldn’t have played out much better for Naperville North’s boys basketball team.

The Huskies hit four three-pointers in the first quarter to build a nice lead and when the Barbs got close in the fourth, North hit 10-of-13 free throws en route to a 64-49 win.

“We’re a good shooting team,” North senior David Sinickas said. “As soon as we get a couple down, we know we can continue to shoot. And if it gets close late, know we can knock down free throws. If we knock down free throws, we’re good.”

Sinickas (11 points), Kevin Garon, Chris Mullen (team-high 13 points) and Derek Westman — all newcomers to the varsity rotation — each hit threes in the first quarter as North (1-1) jumped out to a 28-16 lead with 5:27 left in the second quarter. With the threat of hitting from the outside a reality, the Huskies’ last nine field goals of the half were all layups as DeKalb (0-2) struggled to defend North, which took a 38-21 lead into the break.

North coach Jeff Powers substituted liberally, giving 11 guys some burn in the first half. With only seven combined points per game from last year returning (in the form of Kyle Lindberg and Matt Stacho), Powers is using the early part of the season to see exactly how his rotation will shake out.

“I always use a lot of people around Thanksgiving,” Powers said. “We’re trying to convince the kids that if they’re not mentally tough, if they make a defensive mental error, they’re coming out. They know it.”

What this team has over the past two seasons is the ability to shoot the ball from the outside and from the free-throw line. That will be key as this inexperienced group tries to live up to the success of last year’s team, which came within a hair of knocking off the state’s No. 1 team, Benet, in the regional finals.

“We played a lot of new faces,” Powers said. “It’s going to take a while for them to gel and find the chemistry. But this group works so hard and they’re trying to match the last two seasons.”

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