Naperville North hosts Neuqua Valley in a DVC boys basketball showdown. The Wildcats come off a loss against DeKalb after beating Yorkville on January 3. The Huskies fell to Waubonsie their last time out after winning two non-conference games in a row. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Naperville North goes on a 10-0 run to jump out in front of Neuqua
The Wildcats strike first off the inbound, Mason Martin is free in the corner and connects on nylon.
The Huskies quickly respond with a layup on the other end from Miles Okyne, who finishes over two defenders.
The Huskies work the ball around the perimeter and find Max Steele who is left open from deep. He gets it to drop.
On the fastbreak, Steele finds his teammate Jack Zitko waiting in the corner, who drains the three-pointer.
North again shows off some nice movement on offense. Another set leaves another Huskie open from deep and Zitko connects again. A 10-0 run forces the Wildcats to call a timeout.
Both sides provide solid offense to close out the first half
Neuqua seeks to stop the bleeding as David Taiwo finds Whitman Charboneau who ends the scoreless drought with a three-point shot.
As time runs down in the first, Max Steele gets the rocks and connects with an amazing 4-point play at the buzzer. North leads 19-9 after the first.
Okyne and Drew Kessler work the ball for North, and Steele breaks open from three again. He gets it to drop and has opened the game on fire from the perimeter.
The Wildcats need some momentum and get it here from freshman phenom Cole Kelly who catches and shoots for three.
Kelly then fights through the North defense and finds Charboneau down low for two. Kelly was tonight’s leading scorer with 31.
Steele gets it at the top and attacks the paint. He finishes with a nice left-handed lay-up and North leads by 8.
It’s deja-vu from Steele and Zitko. The two Huskies once again combine on a fastbreak corner three. North leads 29-19 at the half.
Neuqua Valley’s Cole Kelly connects on multiple NBA-range three-pointers
As the second half gets underway, Kelly wastes no time by draining a quick three for the Wildcats.
Steele gets the rock and attacks the paint again. He gets it to go plus the foul! North leads by 10 with four to go in the third.
Kelly enters a different level in the second half. Here, he gets the offensive board, going right back up and getting the and-1 himself!
He then shows off the NBA range not just once, but twice here to bring the cats back into it.
Buckle-up folks because this DVC contest is heating up.
Martin then steps up big for Neuqua, joining the three-point barrage. It’s one of his two threes to close the third.
The Huskies look for answers and receive them as Will Harvey knocks down a three-pointer off the screen. North leads 43-38 after three quarters.
Kelly is left open in the corner and gets the rock from Carter Coviello. He gets it to go and Neuqua only trails by two.
A couple of possessions later, the Wildcats hope to go in front for the first time since it was 3-0. Kelly again comes up big from way downtown! Talk about range! Neuqua leads 45-43 with five and a half minutes left in the contest.
Naperville North scores the final four points to beat Neuqua Valley basketball
North trails 53-51 after Kelly connected on two more Wildcat threes. Oknye drives past multiple defenders to tie it up with about a minute to go.
On the final possession of regulation, Carson Loughlin receives it and attacks Kelly inside. The Huskie junior nails it as time expires to give North the DVC win! The Dawg Pound celebrates with the Huskies and despite Kelly’s 15 points in the final quarter for Neuqua, the Huskies prevail 55-53.
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