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Batavia stops Naperville North

For the second consecutive night at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic, undefeated Naperville North got off to a sluggish start.

This time Batavia didn't let the Huskies off the hook.

Spurred on by strong outside shooting and a stellar defensive effort, the Bulldogs upended the Huskies 54-49 on Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the 32-team event.

Batavia (10-2) will take on Brother Rice on Friday, and Naperville North will play St. Laurence.

"It's a huge win, but now we have to look forward to Brother Rice," said senior guard Riley Cooper, who topped Batavia with 15 points. "Our game plan was really good, our coaches did a great job.

"We were hitting shots early on, but we kind of cooled down in the second half. But I think our defense was frustrating them; we were getting out to their shooters and we didn't give No. 32 (Chris Johnson) any easy looks."

Indeed, Batavia hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter and opened a 17-12 lead. Naperville North sliced the deficit to 3 by halftime before the Bulldogs hit three more 3-pointers in the third - one each from Eric Peterson, Kyle LeFevre and Blake Carlson - to build the margin back up to 41-35.

Peterson finished with 11 points, LeFevre also checked into double figures with 10 and Carlson scored 7.

"Naperville North is a great team," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "That was a great win against a great team. To beat a team like that, you have to have a total team effort both offensively and defensively. They are as good of a team as we will play all year."

Naperville North could get no closer than five points in the fourth as the Huskies were held to a single field goal in the period until the later stages. Batavia hit 11 free throws in the quarter to help preserve the margin.

Tom Welch, who did not play in the first two games of the tournament, led all scorers with 17 points. Johnson totaled 13 points despite being held to one field goal. He was 11-of-15 from the free-throw line and added 6 rebounds.

"They outplayed us in all areas," Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. "Let's credit them, their kids wanted it. They got on the floor, they got dirty. They took it to us in every way.

"We turned the ball over 10 times on a team that wasn't pressing. We've got to get better at entering the ball into the post. We would get it close and then make a silly mistake. We've got to get a little better."

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