The old adage says it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season.
For a half on Monday in Aurora, Naperville North was staring at the difficulty of that proposition right square in the face.
But thanks to getting three players in double figures while stepping up the effort collectively on the defensive end of the floor, No. 11 Naperville North coasted late to a 60-49 victory over 22nd-seeded Glenbard North in a Class 4A West Aurora Regional Quarterfinal.
A 14-0 third-quarter run proved pivotal for Naperville North (16-10) as it turned a two-point deficit into a 12-point lead late in the third.
Sophomore Cam Hardy had 11 of his 13 points in the second half for the Huskies, including eight points and two triples during the 14-0 run that gave the Huskies a 40-28 lead over the Panthers with 2:43 left in the third.
“Coach, at halftime, wanted us to pick up the momentum and like just keep it going. We worked on three-point shooting and layups all during practice, getting over screens,” Hardy said. “First half, we didn’t really do any of that. So second half, he just wanted us to pick up and that’s what we did.”
The Huskies, winners of their last five games, advance to face old DuPage Valley Conference rival West Aurora on Wednesday night in the second semifinal of the Class 4A West Aurora Regional.
“I mean, this is the first year out of the conference (for West Aurora) and so we lost twice last year,” said senior Baylor Griffin. “So it’s a perfect time to get them right now.”
Griffin, who had 13 points in the Huskies’ 21-point victory over the Panthers to close out the regular season last Wednesday, had a team-high 17 points while junior Jelani McClain added 10, with all 10 points coming in the second half.
Griffin’s basket as time expired in the first half gave Naperville North a one-point lead at 25-24 as it did enough to offset the Panthers combining for five 3-pointers in the first half.
Getting three-pointers off the bench from Winston Elston, Chris Gajcak and Brian Dalton during the second didn’t hurt either.
All told, Naperville North got 18 points from its bench.
“In the second (quarter) when Gajcak, Winston and Dalton, all three of them hit threes when we were like struggling to get some offense,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “So all three of those shots were huge to keep us close (in the first half).
“The third quarter, Cam played really well. Jelani made a couple nice passes to him. Griff’s the same old Griff and then I think Deon (Merrill) did a good job defensively on (Nick Lavere, who had game-high 18 points for Glenbard North), giving him a different look.”
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