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Naperville North shocks Hinsdale South

As Winston Elston got in some extra shooting after Wednesday's practice, he couldn't have imagined how much it'd come in handy later that night.

The junior guard's buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Naperville North a 43-40 victory over Hinsdale South and sent the Huskies into the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic title game.

Naperville North (9-2) plays York (9-3), a 78-47 winner over Downers Grove South, at 3 p.m. Thursday in Elmhurst.

“I always shoot the corner shot, but I went (to the YMCA) today because I always go there before games,” Elston said. “It gets me warmed up. The kid jumped, I pump faked, and it went in.”

The Huskies trailed by as many as 14 points and by 10 points midway through the third quarter before staging a rally. Mitch Lewis, playing with a broken finger, drained a 3 at the end of the third quarter and added a free throw at the start of the fourth to tie the game at 30 apiece.

Naperville North's Jelani McClain and the Hornets' Brian Kern traded 3-pointers that tied the game at 35. Huskies sophomore Chris Johnson, who had a team-high 12 points, scored on back-to-back possessions to push Naperville North to a 39-35 lead with three minutes to play.

A Kern 3-pointer and a Barret Benson bucket tied the game for Hinsdale South (9-3) at 40 with a minute left.

After a timeout, the Huskies worked to a final shot. Elston passed the ball into the post to Johnson, who kicked the ball out to Elston. A ball fake sent a defender past him, setting up the game-winning baseline shot.

“We knew they were going to try and keep it out of Mitch's hands, and Winston's been doing it all season,” said Huskies coach Jeff Powers. “Our kids played with a lot of heart the whole way through.”

Hinsdale South stormed to an 18-4 lead, but Naperville North held the Hornets scoreless for nearly seven minutes to climb closer. Down 28-18 in the third quarter, Elston and Cam Hardy knocked down 3s and Lewis added a basket to narrow the margin to 2 points.

The Huskies' post defense, led by Johnson and E.J. Vaughn, limited 6-foot-10 Northwestern-bound Benson to 11 points, including 4 second-half points. Kern led all scorers with 19 points while Benson pulled down 13 rebounds.

“They got us kind of stagnant,” said Hinsdale South coach Brett Moore. “They did a great job getting Benson away from the basket. We must have had 8 turnovers trying to feed the post. We just couldn't get the ball to Benson.”

York 78, Downers Grove South 47:

The Dukes (9-3) powered past Downers South (9-4) to reach the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic title game.

Five players scored in double figures for York including Nick Kosich and Jordan Gray with 13 points apiece off the bench. Patrick Grabowski scored 12 points, Nick Trapani had 11 and Jack Morrissey pitched in 10 points.

Denis Alibegovic led Downers South with 12 points and Sam Ebersold had 10 points.

York led 36-22 at the half before pulling away with a 24-8 third-quarter run. The Dukes aim for their fourth Tosh title, their first since 2012, against Naperville North at 3 p.m. Thursday.

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  Sean McCormack of Hinsdale South goes for a rebound during the Naperville North vs. Hinsdale South at the York boys basketball tournament Wednesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Mitch Lewis of Naperville North tries to block a shot from Brian Kern of Hinsdale South during the York boys basketball tournament Wednesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
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