Boys Basketball: Glenbard North routs Naperville North
BY CHRIS WALKER For Sun-Times Media February 20, 2013 9:42PM
Naperville North couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, knocking off West Aurora and crosstown rival Naperville Central in tight DuPage Valley Conference contests.
None of that mattered in Wednesday’s DVC finale at Glenbard North though.
The Panthers jumped to a 26-17 lead at halftime and then opened the second half on a 10-0 run to cruise to a 61-40 victory.
“After the huge weekend we had, this was very disappointing for us,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “I don’t think our kids were mentally and physically ready to play, which is my fault. I didn’t get them ready.”
Naperville North (19-8, 9-5) only trailed 11-9 after one quarter, but Glenbard North’s junior Chip Flanigan had a steal and dunk in the opening 30 seconds of the second quarter to seemingly inspire the Panthers, who closed the quarter by outscoring the Huskies 15-8.
Halftime provided a chance for the Huskies to regroup but the opening possession was a prime example of why this just wasn’t going to be their night. They missed a layup, but Bryan LoLordo collected a pair of rebounds to give the Huskies a couple more chances. Unfortunately, they failed to score and ultimately turned it over on back-to-back possessions, resulting in layups by Kendall Holbert (12 points) and Justin Jackson (eight points, 10 rebounds).
Glenbard North (12-12, 7-7) then received a driving layup, followed by a one-handed jam from Flanigan (13 points) and a 15-footer from Jackson to increase its lead to 36-17 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.
“Those first two to three minutes of the second half are always big, especially against a good team like that,” Glenbard North coach Joe Larson said. “We knew they were going to make a run at us, but I thought we had a tremendous effort tonight.”
The Panthers led by as many as 23 points in the second half. At one point the Huskies cut their deficit to 11 points with 3:39 left, but the Panthers responded with a 12-0 run.
“We just weren’t ready to play basketball tonight and it’s got me down,” Powers said. “We just have to throw away this one, but if we play like this Monday, we’re going to be done.”
The Huskies, who still have won eight of 10, open Class 4A state series action on Monday, taking on Romeoville at 7:30 in the Benet Regional. A victory there would set up a another contest against Naperville Central.
LoLordo led the Huskies with 11 points and eight rebounds while Derek Westman and Anthony Rehayem each added nine points apiece.
