Naperville North fends off Waubonsie Valley

Naperville North wasn't very good from the 3-point line Friday, making fewer than a fourth of its attempts. The Huskies were equally bad at the free-throw line, connecting on just 5 of 12 opportunities.

But as long as the Huskies have 6-foot-7 senior Chris Johnson dominating the paint, they have a chance no matter how poorly they shoot.

Johnson had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal and Jared McIntyre hit two big 3-pointers in the second half as Naperville North withstood a gritty effort by Waubonsie Valley to escape with a 42-38 victory Friday in Naperville.

"(Johnson has) been our horse, our monster for three years down there both offensively and defensively," said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. "Last year, he didn't score as many points because Tom (6-6 junior Welch) was in there flying around and Mitch (Lewis) was doing his thing.

"But this year, he's scoring 14 points game," Powers added. "He'd probably get more if I can figure out a way to get him the ball. This game, there were about three or four people in the lane with him because we weren't hitting many shots it. It would have helped if we hit a couple of shots."

With Naperville North (15-1, 7-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference) struggling from the perimeter and Welch unavailable due to a shoulder injury, the scoring burden fell to Johnson. He muscled his way inside for seven baskets, including one late in the third quarter to break a 25-25 tie.

"Johnson's a load," said Waubonsie Valley coach Jason Mead. "Our game plan was to never let him go 1-on-1. We let him go 1-on-1 seven times and he scored seven times."

But two of the biggest baskets for Naperville North came courtesy of 5-10 senior guard Jared McIntyre, whose 3-pointer late in the third quarter gave the Huskies a 30-25 lead and whose second 3 with 6:43 remaining in the fourth quarter extended the advantage to 36-29.

"My team trusted me to make those shots," said the transfer from Proviso East. "We were moving the ball around and I just shot within the system. I just wanted to come in and learn my role and excel at that. Do whatever the team needed and do it well."

Waubonsie Valley (8-13, 2-5) got within 40-38 on a 3-pointer by junior Eric Cannon with two seconds remaining, but Jack Hill's two free throws eight-tenths of a second later sealed the outcome.

"The guys played real hard today and executed almost the whole game," Mead said. "We were definitely at a size disadvantage and we had two starters out today. We were just one or two plays away. If a couple layups went down or if we block out one or two times, the game's different."

Johnson's availability for Saturday's game against Wheaton Warrenville South is uncertain. He took a blow to the back of the head late in the game and immediately went to the trainer's room after the final buzzer.

"He got hit pretty hard," Powers said.

If Johnson and Welch are unavailable Saturday, the Huskies will have to shoot better from the outside to compensate for their absence.

"The guys couldn't shoot the ball in any aspect tonight," Powers said. "Maybe it's my fault ... I didn't teach them well enough. That drives me nuts."