With Naperville North surging late in the fourth quarter last Friday against Lake Park, sophomore guard Cam Hardy stole the ball at midcourt before running down the floor and attempting an alley-oop in the direction of fellow sophomore Mitch Lewis.
Hardy and Lewis didn’t connect successfully for a basket but for Naperville North coach Jeff Powers, Hardy’s thought process showed him something.
“Both Mitch and Cam are extremely good defensive players. Cam gets the steal (late in the fourth) and then that’s how cocky Cam is—he tried to throw an alley-oop to Mitch,” Powers said. “They don’t have (any) fear and that’s a beautiful thing. But (Lake Park) is a great team with a great heart. It’s hard to beat a great team.”
Lewis’ game-high 20 points against the Lancers helped the Huskies avenge a December loss in Roselle as the Huskies (11-9, 4-2) moved within a game of the DuPage Valley Conference lead with a 53-49 victory.
“(The Lancers) are the champs. They’re No. 1 (in the DVC), so we’re now one game behind them and made the whole race tougher and a little tougher on them,” Powers said. “It’s really, really important.”
Getting a third straight victory before losing to St. Charles East in Geneva the next day, Powers has shifted his lineup around to get Lewis, Hardy and the other sophomore on the roster, Winston Elston together in the starting lineup.
Lewis combined for 34 points in Naperville North’s two games last weekend and enters the Huskies’ game with Naperville Central this Friday second on the team in scoring behind Baylor Griffin at 9.9 points a game.
“It’s just chemistry. I’ve been playing with those guys ever since I was little. So, I mean, we know each other. We know what move we do,” Lewis said of playing alongside Hardy and Elston. “It’s kind of just like a normal thing. We play all the time on the weekends, so we’re just comfortable out there.”
The Huskies welcome Naperville Central (13-10, 3-3) to town on Friday looking to sweep the season series for the first time since the 2011-12 season after earning a 52-46 road victory on Dec. 12 as Griffin, who leads the team in scoring at 11 points a game, and Jelani McClain combined for 24 points.
For Naperville Central, making amends for the team’s first meeting, in which Naperville North never trailed, is imperative as it hasn’t won two games in a row since at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic in December.
“I don’t think we played very well. We didn’t rebound like we’re capable of rebounding. I think that was the difference in the game,” Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said of his team’s Dec. loss to Naperville North.
As much as the Redhawks rely on Matthew Meier and Nate Dahl, the team’s two leading scorers at 12.13 and 12.04 points a game, respectively, constant production from Harry Hallstrom inside may prove to be as big moving ahead.
Hallstrom has two double-digit scoring games over the course of the Redhawks’ last four games—a 13-point effort in a 47-43 win over Plainfield East on Jan. 20 and 17 points in their 56-41 victory at Glenbard North last Friday.
Getting consistency from the junior big man, who’s averaging 8.75 points a game, is something Kramer is harping on.
“I’ve pulled (Hallstrom) aside, tried to talk to him a few times. He’s like, ‘Coach, I don’t know what it is. It’s not anybody. I just got to get myself out of this,’” Kramer said after the Redhawks beat Plainfield East on Jan. 20. “Sure enough, he hit a big three early and I just could tell the way he was rebounding early and he got a couple deflections on defense, was active. That’s the way he can play.”
