Does Tyler Carlson have an outside conscience?
When it comes to facing Neuqua Valley, the answer seems to be an emphatic ‘no.’
Carlson’s five triples highlighted a perimeter onslaught from Naperville North as it picked up a second victory over Neuqua Valley in as many tries with a 57-45 DuPage Valley triumph on Saturday.
Three of Carlson’s five triples came in the second half as he led the way with a game-high 15 points following connecting on four triples in a 15-point victory over the Wildcats in November.
“Just coming out at half, we knew our shots would fall,” Carlson said. “We didn’t hit them in the first half and we weren’t hitting last night (against Glenbard North) either. We knew out of the half that we had confidence we would hit and we would make our shots.”
That message proved prophetic.
All told, the Huskies (11-3, 4-1) hit on nine triples as Cam Hardy (two) and Chris Sullivan (one) joined in on the fun alongside Carlson.
Hardy had his two three-pointers during the third as Naperville North blitzed Neuqua Valley with five three-pointers during an eight-minute stretch that saw it turn a 25-20 halftime lead into a 18-point bulge.
“I just got to do whatever I got to do to help my team out – even if it’s me getting less rebounds and scoring more points,” said Hardy, who finished with eight points. “I’ll do whatever it takes. Or if it’s me getting a lot of rebounds and scoring no points, I’ll take that. So I do whatever I got to do to get my teammates better.”
Cal Poly-bound Jacob Cushing led the Wildcats (6-8, 2-4) with 14 points while Joe Sieger added 10, but they struggled to defend the Huskies all night.
The way Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton saw it, Naperville North’s ability to beat you in different ways is a tall task to cope with – a fate it has seen twice.
“When they run their offense, it’s a different person every night,” Sutton said. “Last night (against Glenbard North, Chris) Johnson dominated the game; Carlson had one basket. So the team got him open and he knocked down shots, made great plays.
“Naperville North plays good defense and is tough on everyone. It’s just tough to run offense against them and we got to knock down shots. I think we were two-of-13 from three. So you can’t do that and beat a team that’s sitting in a zone.”
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