It’s a big night at Naperville North. It begins with the return of the Athletic Hall of Fame as the school inducts a new class after a six-year hiatus. It’s also a big night in the basketball gym with full student sections in black and white for a crosstown showdown against Naperville Central. The Redhawks are coming off a win over Saint Charles East this past Wednesday, while the Huskies dominated over Southland College Prep last weekend. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Redhawks take an early lead
Both teams are tied at the start of the game. Carson Loughlin of North has the ball in hand before passing to Miles Okyne, who hits the basket to put the Huskies up 4-2 in the early going.
The Redhawks get their offense going. TJ Hillman steals the ball from Jack Zitko, and Hillman dribbles his way to Huskie territory and hits the jumper.
Hawks are down by four points in the first, but Cooper Page makes a long-distance pass to TJ Hillman, who shoots downtown and buries the triple to put his team down one.
Later on, Nate Abrahamson finds Hillman, who makes a quick pass to Casey Cooperkawa for another Redhawk bucket and the lead.
In the 2nd quarter, the Redhawks are up by four points with Quinn Oeth going for the open pass on TJ Hillman. The senior sinks a three-pointer to put Central in front 15-8.
The Redhawks continue to add more points to the scoreboard. Cooperkawa passes to Abrahamson, who makes a quick return to Cooperkawa, who drops in another basket.
The Huskies respond with a three-pointer as Reid Montanari throws a nice pass to Max Steele, who buries one from long range.
A back-and-forth first half
Abrahamson shoots from the arc but fails to sink the basket. Cooper Page grabs the board and finds TJ Hillman, who successfully finds the twine from beyond the arc for another three-pointer.
With seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, Coughlin finds Will Harvey, who makes a shot from the arc. That puts the Huskies down just 26-25 heading into halftime.
Going into the third quarter, the Huskies are on the run with Miles Okyne, who drops home another basket for the blue and orange.
The Redhawks have the ball in hopes of getting the lead back. Hillman passes to Abrahamson, who looks to find Cooperkawa, but Okyne snatches the ball and dribbles his way for the layup.
Naperville North goes on a second half tear
Okyne has the ball once more. He spins and passes to Carson Loughlin, who goes for the layupas the Huskies continue to build the lead.
Jumping ahead into the fourth quarter, the Huskies have seized control. Antonio Brown decides to sink in this layup to extend the lead to 54-34.
Later on, Will Harvey has the ball and passes to Mile Okyne, who scores again to add to the big second half for the Huskies.
Jake Victor struggles with the ball for a bit, but Antonio Brown helps his fellow Huskie with a pass to Reid Montanari, and Montanari comes in with a big slam dunk. Naperville North takes the crosstown victory over Naperville Central by the score of 63-42.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
