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Naperville North's 3-pointers do in West Aurora

Tyler Carlson opened the door for Naperville North Monday night at the Hoops for Healing boys basketball tournament.

But Chris Johnson slammed it shut in the fourth quarter on West Aurora in the Huskies' 69-50 victory in Naperville.

Carlson hit three consecutive 3-pointers late in the second quarter to help give Naperville North (2-0) a 35-25 lead at halftime.

"My teammates got me open," Carlson said. "Luckily, I was fortunate enough to hit them. We played hard and got the rebounds."

The teams had almost identical shooting numbers. Naperville North was 26-for 51 from the field; the Blackhawks were 23 of 45. But the Huskies outscored their former DuPage Valley Conference rival 27-3 from beyond the arc.

The trio of downtown jumpers Carlson drained represented all 9 of his points.

Turnovers also figured mightily in the Huskies' victory. West Aurora turned the ball over 19 times to the Huskies' 7.

"We were really careless with the ball," West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said.

West Aurora (1-1) never led again after the Huskies' Winston Elston had back-to-back field goals in the first quarter.

Ben Young scored on three straight possessions for West Aurora in the second quarter, but the Blackhawks fell behind by double digits at the break as Naperville North had 21 points in the quarter.

"They're a good team," Johnson said of Naperville North.

The Blackhawks' Camron Donatlan showcased the reason he is the reigning Class 3A state champion in the high jump.

But Naperville North was able to neutralize the three-year starter, who scored 21 points in the Blackhawks' season-opening win on Monday against Oswego East. Donatlan paced the Blackhawks with 10 points.

Mitch Lewis' game-high 13 points for Naperville North almost all came after halftime.

The closest West Aurora came was its 47-40 deficit to end the third quarter.

Johnson made sure the game never got any tighter. The 6-foot-7 junior post scored 10 straight team points in the final quarter. Six of them came via two 3-point plays.

"I was just happy my teammates played great defense tonight," Johnson said.

Youcef Merabet hit one of the Huskies' nine 3-pointers to open the fourth-quarter scoring. West Aurora never trimmed the deficit back to single figures. The 10 straight Johnson team points in the fourth quarter to stretched the Huskies' lead to 64-46.

When Camaron Hardy drained the final bucket of the game from past the arc, it represented the biggest Naperville North lead of the contest.

Johnson and Hardy finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

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