Naperville North gets much-needed win
With Friday's cross-town setback all too fresh, Naperville North sophomore guard Zeke Williams and his teammates wanted desperately to use Saturday's home boys basketball game for a quick turnaround and a bit of redemption.
The Huskies accomplished both. Williams and senior guard Riley Thompson started hot against visiting St. Francis and helped snap a three-game losing streak with an impressive 66-49 defeat of the Spartans.
Williams knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first half on his way to being one of three Naperville North players to tally 15 points on the night.
Thompson, who scored his team's first 11 points, also finished with 15 as did Grant Johnson, who added 11 rebounds for the 3-5 Huskies.
"Coming off three straight losses we kind of wanted redemption against a team we lost to last year," Williams said. "Riley came out and got 11 points right away against a really good defense and then everyone was hot today."
The Huskies made seven 3s in the first half while building a 37-24 lead, then were lethal from the free-throw line while not allowing St. Francis (4-3) to get any closer than to within nine points in the second half. On Friday Naperville North lost 53-33 to rival Naperville Central, a third straight setback by double digits.
"It all started to click tonight against a good St. Francis team," Williams said. "We're trying to show everybody our season didn't start the right way and we're out to get redemption. We're feeling real good tonight. You can hear the screaming in the locker room."
St. Francis senior Danny Blank did all he could, finishing with a game-high 21 points and adding 8 rebounds. But the Huskies were just too balanced on offense and too good from the foul line - 22 for 26 - for the Spartans on Saturday. Myles Barry added 13 points as four Huskies scored in double figures.
"I thought (the Huskies) played great. They run their offenses well. They are athletic and they shot pretty darn good that first half. Their record is not indicative of how good they are and how good they're going to be," St. Francis coach Erin Dwyer said.
"Danny played great. He's a four-year varsity player. He's a high character, perfect role model high school athlete. For him to play that well was awesome. But yeah, we have to find ways to continue to score on the inside."
Barry was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line in the fourth quarter and Liam Kim made 5 of 6 as the hosts made 16 of 18 free throws in the final quarter.
"For sure. I think we shot the ball the best we have all year," Barry said. "And obviously that's huge. It's good to get a win. We've been on a streak where we haven't been able to get one so this feels good."