Everything works for Naperville N. in blowout win

Naperville North hasn’t had much opportunity to practice at this early stage of the season, so first-year coach Jason Dycus has used his team’s game experience as a chance for improvement.

That was again the case during the Huskies’ 53-25 nonconference win at Plainfield Central on Monday night as Naperville North forced 29 Wildcats turnovers, which led to 10 fastbreak points, all in the first half.

The Huskies’ 1-3-1 base defense forced 20 of the Wildcats’ 29 turnovers in the first half, leading to the easy victory.

Plainfield Central was held in single-digit scoring in each of the four quarters.

“I was working on some stuff, seeing how we’re going to rotate by trying some different defensive combinations,” Dycus said. “The 1-3-1 defense is something that we like, but we’ve tried to mix it up depending on who we’re playing and the matchups.”

The Huskies scored the first 9 points of the game starting with a layup along the baseline by Laurel Pereira.

Kayla Sharples followed with her team’s next 7 points, going 3 for 3 at the free throw line and then scoring on back-to-back fastbreak layups, one of them off her own steal.

Dycus noted his team’s success in the transition game over the last two weeks.

“Our transition offense has improved,” Dycus said. “If you can beat defenses down the court you don’t have to play the halfcourt game.”

Plainfield Central was held to just 3 field goals in the second quarter while turning the ball over 11 times in that stretch.

Morganne Freeman scored on an inbounds play, and then followed that up with a 10-foot jumper, before a baseline 3-pointer by Sophia Fumagalli put the Huskies up 22-9 midway through the second quarter.

The gap continued to widen in the second half as Katie Cores connected on a layup, followed by Caleigh Corbett finding Pereira inside the paint for an easy basket and a 36-13 lead.

Sharples, who along with Pereira, scored a game-high 11 points, tallied the Huskies’ last four points of the third quarter on an inbounds play inside, followed by a pull-up jumper.

Haley McClain scored all 6 of her points on a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, while Corbett was the Huskies second-leading scorer with 8 points.

Freeman added 7 points for Naperville North while Michaela Schlathman led Plainfield Central with 9 points.