Nineteen victories over the course of the year certainly can bring a sense of calmness.
For Naperville North, victory No. 20 on the year can be attributed to just that.
Down as by as many as 11 points in the first half, Naperville North refused to blink opposite its crosstown rival in rallying for a 55-52 victory on Tuesday.
While Cam Hardy did his heavy lifting in the first half to help the Huskies (20-4, 13-1) dig out of the hole they created – courtesy of four triples – junior Mitch Lewis handled things late.
Lewis tallied 12 of his team-high 18 points, matching Hardy, in the second half – including scoring the team’s last six points to overcome a late six-point deficit.
“You guys have seen Mitch a lot and what he does is he doesn’t force too many things,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “He lets the game come to him and he found that second half where he was getting spots to get open. And then he just made some unbelievable shots and good passes, too. He got a lot of assists (Tuesday).”
Owning 20 victories in a season for a third time under Powers, the Huskies have their eyes set on earning the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A East Aurora Sectional come Thursday.
Hardy connected on five triples, with his fifth coming at a most opportune time – with 1:13 left in regulation to get Naperville North within one point at 50-49.
“First half, I just tried to do whatever I could to get my team back to winning standards,” Hardy said. “Just finding open shooters like Winston (Elston) and Tyler Carlson.”
From there, the Huskies’ defense stiffened.
With Napervile Central (14-10, 8-6) up three following two Matthew Meier free throws, Naperville North forced a steal at midcourt, leading to a Lewis bucket with 50 seconds to play.
A second straight basket from Lewis following a timeout put the Huskies up for good at 53-52 with 24 seconds left, but not before one last stalwart defensive act.
Elston’s steal inside the paint to force a jump ball with 9.8 seconds left in regulation proceeded a pair of Lewis’ free throws and finishing off an improbable comeback.
“We were switching everything and Chris Johnson just yelled ‘switch,’” said Elston, who hit two three-pointers on his way to chipping in seven points. “So Harry (Hallstrom) was right there and the only thing I thought I could do was take a charge. So I was ready to fall but then the ball was just right there, so I just grabbed it.”
The heroics of Lewis and Hardy helped offset the show Meier put on for the Redhawks.
Meier tallied a game-high 19 points for Naperville Central and combined with Hallstrom for 19 of its 29 first-half points as it got out quick.
Back-to-back triples from Hallstrom and Justin Jopes got the Redhawks out to a 20-9 lead, forcing Powers to take time with 5:59 left in the first half.
But Hardy and Lewis led the Huskies, who didn’t lead for the first time until early in the third, on a 17-9 run to end the half to get them within three points at halftime.
“We just didn’t finish the game,” Meier said. “We thought we had them. We were playing well throughout the whole game. We had a lead and we just got to be better than that. This late in the season, we got to be able to finish games like that because we know that’s the only way to beat good teams like them.”
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