Naperville North surprises itself with rout of West Aurora
After suffering its first loss earlier this week, the Naperville North boys basketball team talked about the need to pick up its intensity.
In Friday's DuPage Valley Conference game with visiting West Aurora, the two teams stumbled through two quarters with the score tied and the Huskies admittedly didn't seem to be unleashing any newfound intensity.
But that all changed late in the third quarter and the next thing you knew, a 2-point lead over the Blackhawks turned into a surprising 61-39 victory by Naperville North (6-1, 2-0).
Huskies coach Jeff Powers said he was "shocked" by the final score but was not totally surprised by some of the great things he saw from his team. Varsity veteran Joe McNicholas had team highs of 16 points and 8 rebounds, yet he was only part of the story.
Forward James O'Shaughnessy fired up the home team with a slam dunk in the third quarter and added a 3-pointer in the fourth for good measure, while tallying all 10 of his points in the second half. Then there was the new backcourt combo of speedsters Jovonn Griffin and sophomore Chris McGee, which helped force the Blackhawks into 17 turnovers while showcasing an intense 2-2-1 press that wrecked havoc on the visitors.
"Last year at times we were lackadaisical and maybe we lacked maturity," said O'Shaughnessy, who converted a steal into a crowd-rousing dunk with three minutes to go in the third quarter.
"After the Benet loss we talked about needing to be more intense and tonight we had intensity."
West Aurora (1-5, 0-2) did not have a turnover in the first quarter while taking a 13-11 lead behind 5 points from Tyrone Carey, but shot just 8 of 24 in the first half and then watched as a tight game midway through the third quarter just got totally away from them.
O'Shauhnessy's dunk may have made the most noise in the second half, but West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said his team's struggles in pretty much all facets of the game were glaringly noticeable down the stretch.
"We sort of blew up in the second half. From my standpoint I would say it was a lack of execution," he said. "We made very poor decisions on the floor as to where we should go with the ball."
Even when the Blackhawks managed to get the ball past midcourt when pressured, too many of the possessions ended up in missed shots or turnovers down low as the speedy Griffin or another pesky Huskies defender managed to deflect a pass or sneak up from the backside for a steal.
"I can't say enough about Joe McNicholas. He had a phenomenal game all the way through," Powers said. "Then in the second half we put Jovonn and Chris together and they're lightning quick. Maybe I should play them together more."
Griffin, who had a pair of 3s in the first half, was 6 of 6 from the foul line in the second half to finish with 14 points and 3 steals. Center Kyle Pilmer paced West Aurora with 11 points and 7 rebounds.