Naperville North finishes against Waubonsie Valley

After 20 minutes of Naperville North's visit to Waubonsie Valley on Friday night, a neutral observer would have been hard pressed to identify which team was the freshly minted DuPage Valley Conference champion.

Faced with a staunch challenge from the Warriors, the DVC champ Huskies led just 32-31 at that point. As the clock hit the four-minute mark of the third quarter it was like a starter's pistol went off. Naperville North responded with a 28-11 run that blew the game open for a 62-50 victory.

"First of all, give credit to their team, they came out hungry and wanting it and we didn't want to play," said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. "In the third quarter we got in a defensive) stance, pressured the ball and then we started looking like our team."

The deciding run featured a glimpse at all of Naperville North's virtues, with baskets coming from inside and out, on the break and in patterned offense. Five players scored for the Huskies (21-4, 14-1) in the streak, with significant contributions coming from the bench in the form of two 3-pointers by Tyler Carlson and 7 points from E.J. Vaughn. Chris Johnson had 9 of his game-high 17 points. Many of the baskets were set up by blocks or assist from Mitch Lewis, who had 5 blocks and 4 assists in the game.

"We started slow and they were hitting shots, so we knew we had to change something," Johnson said. "We picked up the pace, though it got a little sloppy sometimes, but we got ourselves under control."

"It was definitely the halftime talk with coach Powers," Lewis added. "We took it upon ourselves to get together as a team, we pushed the ball and got some rebounds."

For the Warriors (5-20, 1-14), the first 20 minutes gave them hope that a senior night miracle might be in the offing. They started hot with Demetrius Ewing scoring 5 points in a 9-2 spurt to open the game. They hung tough with the Huskies through the second quarter with Ewing adding 6 more points and Eric Cannon chipping in 5 as the Warriors trailed just 26-25 at the break. Brian Phillips' three-point play to open the second half actually put the Warriors ahead, but when the Huskies kicked it into overdrive, Waubonsie was stuck in neutral.

"In the third quarter we started to play outside our game," said Waubonsie coach Chaz Taft. "We got outside the box and didn't stay fundamental, then we had some turnovers that hurt us."

Both teams finish DVC play next Wednesday, then begin preparations for the state tournament. Waubonsie, the No. 22 seed in the East Aurora sectional, will open Feb. 29 against No. 11 West Chicago at Lyons Township. The third-seeded Huskies will begin postseason action on March 1 against either No. 14 Downers Grove North or No. 18 Lyons Township, also at Lyons.