Naperville North's Sharples scores 30 in OT win
Words can't adequately describe some of the things Naperville North's Kayla Sharples did on the basketball court Tuesday night, but both coaches did nail it when crediting the Huskies senior's desire.
After Sharples scored 30 points to lead the Huskies over rival Naperville Central 63-57 in overtime at the Class 4A Joliet West regional, both Naperville North coach Jason Dycus and Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum expressed amazement about some of the shots she put down. But they both added that her “will to win” may have been the difference on a night when both teams wanted dearly to extend their season at the expense of their fiercest rival.
“I think Kayla's will to win is incredible,” a smiling Dycus said after his team escaped to live another day and have a shot at top-seeded Benet in Thursday's regional final. “We have a great deal of respect for Central. But obviously when you're playing your archrival in a regional game you want to come out with a victory and we did that.”
The Redhawks (15-15), powered by five 3-pointers and 23 points from guard Emily Kraft, seemed in position to win the contest with leads of 51-49 and 53-51 in the final 2½ minutes. Even after Sharples had scored to tie the game at 53, Naperville Central had the ball with one minute to play and a chance to set up for a potential game-winner.
But a turnover sent the game to overtime and that's when Sharples took over, scoring six points including a steal and layup that made the score 62-57 Huskies with less than a minute left to play.
“We're beyond excited. We're so happy and proud,” said Sharples, whose team split two regular season games against the Redhawks. “All we wanted to do was win when it counts in the playoffs and that's what we did.”
The senior was determined to not let the season end on Tuesday.
“Especially our seniors, we didn't want this to be our last game, especially against our rivals,” she said. “So we just wanted to kick butt. I'm really proud of us.”
While Sharples was her usual amazing self, it was teammate Katie Cores who stepped up big time in prime time. The 5-foot-10 junior had 15 points and 15 rebounds and seemed to come up with the basketball at the most critical times. With the game on the line late, Cores did her best to prevent Naperville Central from second chances, and it was 6 clutch offensive rebounds that led to some very big second chances for the Huskies.
“Katie Cores was absolutely huge for us,” Dycus said. “She really came ready to play. Like I told the girls, people want to talk about Kayla, obviously, but it's a team game.”
The loss was a tough one to swallow for Nussbaum, whose senior-laden squad finished the season strong, won the DuPage Valley Conference crown, and had its share of chances to win on Tuesday.
“It was a great game if you didn't care who wins,” he said. “We really had the game kind of in hand with two minutes to go. We committed a turnover that really hurt, but really I don't have anyone to blame but myself.
“We should have called a timeout in the last 15 seconds there and we didn't and I'm 100 percent to blame for that.”
With Kraft hitting two 3s early on, the Redhawks led 16-9 after one quarter and 26-22 at the half, but the game was tied at 36-36 after three quarters and then even at 53-53 at the end of regulation.
Midway through the overtime, Naperville Central led 57-55 following a pair of free throws by Haley Minick, but Sharples followed with a basket and two free throws before her steal and layup later secured victory.
“Everything she threw up went in,” Nussbaum said of Sharples. “We had a McDonald's All-American on our schedule that we played…but this girl is the best that we played against this year. Hands down. Sharples, she willed her team to win. I wish I had those last 15 seconds over to do again. But that's life. I'm not going to sleep tonight.”