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Naperville North makes plays when it matters most

You'd never confuse Naperville North with a flashy boys basketball team, but the Huskies sure showed some flashes of brilliance on Friday.

After never trailing Naperville North held on for a 52-46 DuPage Valley Conference cross-town win at Naperville Central.

Perhaps the most important flash for the Huskies (4-4, 1-1) came with 1:20 left in the game. After Matthew Meier's 3-pointer pulled Naperville Central (6-3, 1-1) within 43-41, Baylor Griffin answered with a putback three-point play that extended Naperville North's lead back to 46-41.

A quick 6-0 burst in the final minute put the game out of reach before the Redhawks' Nate Dahl, who scored a game-high 17 points, knocked down his team's seventh 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"They did make a comeback, but we dug down on defense and we got stops," Griffin said. "That was the big thing. We stopped them, we got the rebound and then we executed on offense. It all started on defense."

Naperville North led virtually the entire game, with the only ties coming early in the first quarter and in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Winston Elston scored on a last-second layup to end the half on a high note for the Huskies, and then a 12-2 run midway through the third quarter built the Huskies their biggest lead of 39-27 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Dahl and Meier closed the gap quickly, however, combining for 12 straight points for the Redhawks. When they each nailed a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter, the margin shrank to 39-37.

Naperville North, however, kept answering.

"I thought defensively we weren't very good, and that's basically what hurt us," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "Our kids grinded back. They didn't quit, and it's a credit to them. But I think we can do a better job rebounding and defensively."

Meier scored 14 points for the Redhawks while Griffin led Naperville North with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Jelani McClain, who set the tone with a pair of 3-pointers to start the game, scored 10 points in an overall strong court game for the Huskies.

"Winston came in and made that layup at the end that was sweet, and gave us valuable minutes, Brian Dalton comes in and nails a 3 at a huge, critical time of the game," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers. ""Everybody that came in did good things."

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Images: Naperville North at Naperville Central, boys basketball

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