Girls Basketball:Naperville North girls halt six-game losing streak

Updated: January 28, 2012 11:47PM

Regardless of the opponent, Naperville North was determined to get a victory on Saturday.

Using a new-found aggressiveness, the Huskies got that victory, snapping a six-game losing streak by beating cellar-dwelling Glenbard East 51-31 in DuPage Valley Conference action in Naperville.

“It was really important,” Naperville North freshman Kayla Sharples said. “We were on a pretty long losing streak and coach (Jacquie Discipio) said we have to play good for all four quarters and not just one or two or three. We had to keep on being aggressive and that’s what we did today.”

The contest was not without angst for the Huskies (11-12, 3-8), who fell behind 7-0 and trailed 10-6 after the first quarter as Maggie Angst scored five of her team-high 10 points for Glenbard East.

Rather than sulk, the Huskies roared, scoring the first 23 points of the second quarter to take a 29-10 lead before a basket by Kelly Eberle broke a 8:04 scoreless streak for the Rams (1-22, 0-11) with 27 seconds left in the first half.

“I called that timeout when we were down 7-0,” Discipio said. “I said, ‘We need a little wakeup call,’ and they responded and then we went on a nice run. You don’t see that every day.”

Sharples, a 5-10 guard/forward, scored nine points during the run, including the three-pointer that got it started. She then gave the Huskies the lead for good by scoring on a layup off a pass from Zoe Swift. Shannon Bushman had started the play with a steal, a pattern Naperville North would repeat frequently with similar results.

“In the beginning we just weren’t communicating and we know…communicating, that’s what is going to win it for us,” Sharples said. “Our defense will set the tone for our offense and I felt like at the beginning our defense wasn’t that great. Then Shannon was telling us that we have to talk and we have to be more aggressive and communicate and help each other up when we’re down. I felt like that’s what we did second quarter and throughout the game.”

Sharples continued her sharp play in the third quarter, recording eight points and four steals as the Huskies stretched their lead to 45-17. She led all players with 21 points, nine rebounds and six steals.

“She plays well beyond her years,” Discipio said. “She’s a fun player to watch. She jumps higher than most girls out there. She has a great court sense, a good instinct.

“The fact that she’s only a freshman is more exciting. She does know how to battle out there. She had a great game today.”

The Huskies were great defensively, recording 15 steals and limiting the Rams to just two points in the second quarter and five in the third. Glenbard East shot just 10-for-40 (25 percent) from the field.

“We talked in pre-game about limiting them to about 10 points a quarter,” Discipio said. “That has to be our goal for all games so we’ve been really focusing on defense the past couple days. We switched to our 1-3-1 in the second quarter. That helped. The more steals we got, the better we looked on offense.”

Swift had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Huskies, while Bushman tallied eight points, four rebounds and three assists and Morganne Freeman added six points and eight boards.

Rachel Leifheit scored five points and Eberle, Taylor Hallcox and Tajanae Key all had four for the Rams, who have lost 13 straight.

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