Despite incorporating three sophomores into its rotation, the luxury of having three starters back from a year ago to help lean on through tough and adverse situations figured to pay dividends at some point for Naperville North.
Consider the impact experience plays in a heated atmosphere that comes with facing off with your crosstown rival.
Opposing Naperville Central in the month of December for the first time since 2008, contributions Naperville North got from two of its upperclassmen, junior point guard Jelani McClain and senior forward Baylor Griffin, paid off handsomely during a 52-46 DuPage Valley Conference road victory over Naperville Central on Friday.
“I was talking to the sophomores—Mitch (Lewis), Cam (Hardy) and Winston (Elston–before the game because they haven’t played in a North-Central game yet and I was just telling them how it’s a different atmosphere,” Griffin said. “Not only is it away, but it’s five minutes away from our school. The energy is unbelievable. You get there and you get the chills warming up and you got to relax. You got to tell yourself to relax. … It’s just a great atmosphere, great team effort. It was awesome.”
McClain, a three-year starter, got Naperville North (4-4, 1-1) off and running by hitting two three-pointers to open up the Huskies’ scoring while also hitting a crucial basket inside the lane late in the fourth to help stem a Redhawk rally, to highlight his 10-point night.
Meanwhile, Griffin matched his 14-point output from Tuesday night against Marmion by crashing the glass hard and scoring five points, including a timely three-point play off a rebound late in regulation with the Huskies nursing to a two-point lead, in the fourth.
Griffin’s seven rebounds led the way as the Huskies were able to out-physical the younger Redhawks by continuing to attack the basket.
“We have a million of box-out drills and rebounding drills and you just got to go get the ball, in all honesty. I’m there. I box out my defender and if we grab it, (we can clear and get into transition),” he said. “All our big men grab it. … All our guards box out as well. It’s just a team effort.”
The Huskies led wire-to-wire and by as many as 12 points late in the third by getting eight different players to score as sophomore Mitch Lewis added eight points while Griffin’s fellow senior, Zach Tuxhorn, chipped in with seven.
“I always feel that if you’ve got one guy shooting all the time, then all the other guys just stand around. So we get them all to shoot and they all feel happy then,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “And happy boys, happy coach I guess. Who knows? Something like that.”
Naperville Central (6-3, 1-1) couldn’t really use the size advantage it had with the likes of Harry Hallstrom and Brandon Baskin in the middle as the Huskies used a zone to try and force the Redhawks to beat them from the perimeter.
Hallstrom, a 6-7 junior, managed to score just nine points while Baskin was limited to five points and was held scoreless in the second half.
Senior Nate Dahl, courtesy of his game-high 17 points, and junior Matthew Meier, who had 12 points, tried their best to help the Redhawks try and cut into that 12-point deficit as much as they could.
Dahl and Meier combined to convert five three-pointers in the second half for the Redhawks, who got to within two points of the Huskies twice in the final quarter thanks to the efforts from both Dahl and Meier.
Seeing a zone for the first time this season, coupled with its lack of depth being somewhat exposed by the more experienced Huskies, will give something for Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer to work on.
The Redhawks rattled off a six-game winning streak before their losses to Lake Park over at Addison Trail and Naperville North this week.
Kramer knows his young team will get better with time and as it gets acclimated to environments like the one offered up Friday night with the crosstown Huskies in town.
“They were playing a zone. They were (playing an) extended zone and I just … this was the first time we’ve really seen a zone all year,” he said. “It was something we were expecting and we just … I don’t know. I think our age kind of showed (Friday) night.
“You got four juniors out there and a senior, so in an atmosphere like this, they haven’t experienced a ton of it. Meier has maybe a little bit. But that’s what happens. North had three starters back from last year, so they have experience with what a North-Central game is like.
“Not making excuses at all. I thought our kids played hard. I thought (Naperville North) played awfully hard and I thought they made big shots when they (needed) to, even late in the game.”
[shareprints gallery_id=”1070″ gallery_type=”squares” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”small” image_padding=”3″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]
