Barry, Naperville North battle past Downers Grove South
Even when things didn't go exactly as Myles Barry planned, he still found a way to turn water into wine.
The Naperville North junior guard sparkled Tuesday night in his second varsity game, racking up a personal-best 14 points to go with 5 assists and 5 steals as the host Huskies knocked off Downers Grove South 64-53 in the Hoops for Healing Tournament.
"Myles did a great job of being a leader tonight," Naperville North center Tom Welch said. "I think it's my job (to lead), but when I can't, he showed out tonight.
"He did a great job of handling the ball and distributing and firing passes. When I started finding my rhythm, he found me on great passes."
The Loyola-bound Welch was frustrated after scoring 6 points on 3-for-6 shooting in the first half. But Barry picked up the slack by scoring 9 of his points and Grant Johnson tallied 7 of his 8 to give the Huskies (2-0) a 32-22 halftime lead.
Barry's main goal was to find the 6-foot-8 Welch underneath. He did that in a variety of ways, most entertainingly with some alley-oop passes.
One of those attempts hit the front of the rim instead of Welch. But Barry followed up and scored in the lane to make it 36-26.
Then he started finding Welch with regularity. Welch scored 12 consecutive points over an eight-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters as the Huskies maintained a 12-point lead.
Three of those baskets came off Barry assists, including an alley-oop following a Barry steal that made it 48-37. Welch led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds, sinking his last 5 shots.
"It's so fun playing with Tom," Barry said. "It makes this job really easy.
"You just throw it anywhere near the rim and he'll go get it. He makes me look good because I throw it up there, but he does all the work."
That may be so on the offensive end, but Barry was a workhorse defensively.
"Defense comes first," Welch said. "It just shows that if you can turn defense into offense and get some easy transition buckets, it makes it a lot easier than working the ball for 30 seconds or so in the halfcourt."
Those easy baskets proved to the be the difference because the Mustangs (0-2) put up great resistance. Justin Eagins, who led Downers South with 21 points, hit a pair of 3-pointers and Christopher Gory scored inside and then split two free throws to pull the Mustangs within 56-49 with 1:18 left.
But the Mustangs missed their last five shots and Barry sank 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch.
"They made a little run in the fourth quarter, but we just focused on staying true to our defense," Barry said. "We got a couple steals there and were able to finish it off."
Charlie Furman had 13 points for Downers South, which actually outrebounded the bigger Huskies 25-23 but shot just 17 for 52.
"I thought our kids battled them," Downers South coach Kris Olson said. "Great effort. That's why we're in this tournament, is to see where we stack up."