Naperville North boys basketball wins by 15 against Hinsdale Central

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It’s the 17th annual Hoops 4 Healing Tournament as the Naperville North Huskies host the Hinsdale Central Red Devils on their home floor for the first game of the season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Naperville North and Hinsdale Central battle in the first

Luke Bilenko grabs the miss under the rim and puts up a left-handed shot for the game’s first basket.

Bryce Welch comes down the court on the game’s next possession and uses his left for the Huskies’ first basket.

Bilenko dishes the pass this time to a cutting Will Gaffney, who gets the basket plus the foul but cannot connect on the free throw.

Welch scores his fifth point of the game with this three.

On the next possession, it’s Welch again as he nails this mid-ranger and has all of North’s seven points.

Bilenko with another pass that hits the cutting Eric Kozys, who finishes it with an easy lay-in. Huskies lead 7-6.

Channeling his inner-cornerback skills, Luke Williams intercepts the pass, takes it down the court, euro-steps the defender, and gets the and-one basket to go.

A few possessions later, Dillon Dell gets the three to go down just before the end of the first quarter, with the Huskies leading 14-9.

Huskies extend their lead

Naperville North forces another turnover to start the quarter, and with the gained possession, Welch nets another three.

Jack Kallstrand fakes the three, puts the ball on the deck, and uses a spin and some help from the rim for a score.

The Red Devils respond quickly as Daniel Orozco nails a three to bring the game to single digits at 19-12 for North.

Another Husky football player is making things happen on the court as Cole Arl, with an acrobatic finish, gives Naperville North its largest lead of the game, 23-12.

Vincas Buzelis, with the offensive rebound over a Husky player, gets the second chance bucket to go as it ends the Naperville North run.

Once again, it’s Welch,  scoring his 16th point of the first half with this smooth layup, and just before the half, Belinko takes the ball away from Welch and scores as we go into the break with Naperville North leading 25-18.

Huskies dominate the second half

Offensive rebounds were prominent in the game as Grant Montanari added another with his cleanup service on Arl’s miss.

Hinsdale Central passed through the Huskies’ zone defense with Bilenko’s layup, his sixth game point on the night.

Orozco hits another three here, as the Red Devils are climbing back…

On the next possession, Hinsdale Central missed a three from the corner, but Bilenko is there for the rebound. He puts it up and gets the foul plus the free throw, as the Red Devils are only down three, 29-26.

That run for Hinsdale was short-lived, as Welch uses a hesitation dribble to get a layup to go;

Williams then gets his second steal of the game and takes it to the cup for two, and just like that, Naperville North opens up another run, leading 33-26.

Looking for a basket, Dilan Reddy provides a three off the bench, but the Huskies Max Steele answers right back with one of his own.

Turnovers for the Red Devils start becoming costly as Welch gets the fastbreak bucket.

One last push for Hinsdale Central with Orozco’s third three of the game, but Arl rises on the other end of the court to match the three.

Not much action in the fourth as the Huskies protect their lead, but this final basket from Welch ends the night just how he started it for Naperville North as they pick up their season-opening win, 47-32 over Hinsdale Central; Welch leads all scorers with 22 points.

For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!