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Naperville North keeps it going

Naperville North coach Jason Dycus was not certain how his team would respond after Monday's 4-point loss to Montini at Coach Kipp's Hoopfest in Villa Park.

The game could either boost his team's confidence and show the Huskies that they could play at another level, or they could fall back into the same funk that had them sitting a few games under .500 at the midway point of the season.

At least for one night Dycus could rest easy.

Freshman Greta Kampschroeder had 19 points, including four 3-pointers, sophomore Kara Rivard added 15 points and 6-foot-5 DePauw University recruit Sadie Jurkovic contributed 10 points, 7 rebounds and a block as Naperville North defeated Metea Valley 76-31 Tuesday in Naperville.

"This was phenomenal," Jurkovic said. "That game yesterday was an unexpected turn of events for us. Then coming into this we said in the locker room before coach came in, 'We just competed with one the best teams in the state. Why can't we play like that every game?'"

Naperville North (8-9, 4-4 DuPage Valley Conference) broke a 6-6 tie with a 31-6 run spanning the first and second quarters. The run included a string of 11 consecutive points by Kampschroeder, who buried 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions.

"I've been having a little trouble getting my shooting going because I do consider myself a real elite shooter," Kampschroeder said. "But I finally got it going tonight. My mom told me, 'Just relax. You know you can shoot.' That's what I did."

Senior center Ella Bristow found Lauren Platou under the basket to beat the second-quarter buzzer and give the Huskies a 46-20 halftime lead. Naperville North extended the advantage to 62-22 with a minute remaining in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by sophomore Nikki Kwilosz.

"We played a great all-around game tonight," Dycus said. "Our defense was outstanding, our transition game was outstanding and our offense was outstanding. But your defense is where it starts.

"I read the statistics to the girls at halftime about our deflections and steals," he added. "We had 8 steals and 7 deflections at halftime. That's pretty outstanding defense, I don't care who you're playing."

Six-foot-1 junior Tess Thompson led Metea Valley (6-13, 1-8) with 10 points and 5-6 sophomore guard Zuri Whigham added 7.

"We're a young team and it's a learning process," said Metea Valley coach Cedric Williams. "We have to keep them encouraged, but they also have to understand that they have to be accountable. That's how you grow as a team.

"We need to point out the positive stuff, but put out some constructive criticism as well," he added. "We have to make teams make hard 2s instead of easy 3s. They have to learn and we'll continue to preach it. But they have to get better."

Jurkovic, meanwhile, wants her team to continue to play at the level it did against Montini and Metea Valley.

"I want to have a good end of the season," she said. "I want this season to leave a mark. Lauren (Platou) and I have been in this program for four years through junior varsity and varsity, and we have not seen a regional championship. We want to see that."

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