Naperville North winning despite adversity
It hasn't been an easy couple of weeks for Naperville North's boys basketball team, but winning definitely helps.
Playing short-handed again, the visiting Huskies used a late run to beat Wheaton North 58-44 in Tuesday's DuPage Valley Conference action.
With third-year starter Chris Johnson missing a third straight game due to a concussion suffered on Jan. 19, Naperville North (17-2, 9-1) used a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to break a span of five lead changes on consecutive possessions to start the period.
Six-foot-six junior Tom Welch stepped up again in Johnson's absence, scoring a game-high 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Ten points came in the fourth quarter as the Huskies pulled away.
"We just created our own energy and that got us some buckets," Welch said. "You want to pull away, but against a team like this it could come down to a last shot. Luckily we got some energy and made some big shots."
A Drew Arbogast 3-pointer gave Wheaton North (10-10, 5-5) its biggest lead of 20-16 early in the second quarter, but the Falcons missed a key opportunity to pad their lead going into halftime. They made just one of seven free-throw attempts in the final four minutes of the half including three front ends of 1-and-1 situations.
Naperville North took advantage and led 22-21 at halftime.
"We're going through a patch where we're not really playing very well together, and things can spiral out of control quickly," said Falcons coach Dave Brackmann. "It's something we haven't done a very good job of all year, and that's responding to adversity within a game. We tried to do things individually and force situations."
Even with their struggles at the line, the Falcons rallied from a 5-point third quarter deficit thanks in part to six Naperville North turnovers. The score was knotted at 32-32 heading to the fourth quarter, and the margin stayed within 2 points until the Huskies hit Wheaton North with their decisive run.
Jack Hill, who scored 15 points, and Jack Barry, who had 8 points, each scored 6 points in the fourth quarter for Naperville North. Jared McIntyre also scored 8 points.
Deng Reng led Wheaton North with 11 points off the bench while Mason Biegalski and Jacob Schauer each scored 8 points.
"We concentrated a little bit, we hit some shots, Tommy made a couple huge baskets and big rebounds, and then Jack Barry hit the two 3s," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers. "It was definitely a team effort tonight."
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