The score may have looked more like a football game than a basketball game, but that was fine with Highland Park boys’ basketball head coach Paul Harris — as long as his team ended up on top.
“I joked with the guys that this was my kind of game,” Harris said. “They’d rather win with the high-octane offense. But I don’t mind winning one with our defense once in a while.”
Highland Park’s defense certainly delivered in topping Naperville North 31-27 in its final game of the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York High School in Elmhurst last week.The win brought 2014 to an end on a high note for the Giants, and Harris was very satisfied with his team’s play in the 32-team tournament.
“I’m really proud of how we completed,” he said. “To go 3-1 here and play the competition that we played. I think we feel really good about where we are. There are definitely some areas where we can get better, and our schedule gets really tough as we get into January and February. But our guys are excited, and I’m really pleased with where we are at this point.”
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Highland Park started the five-day tournament with a blowout win against Sandburg, 69-26. Another easy win followed against Elk Grove High School, 60-34. But in the game that would have advanced the team to the tournament semi-finals, the Giants fell to Lake Forest, 51-43. Lake Forest would go on to win the tournament, defeating Riverside-Brookfield 69-42.
Naperville North lost a heartbreaker the night before, a double overtime loss to Lyons 59-56, which set up the game in the consolation bracket.
At the start of the game, it looked every bit the fourth game in five days for both teams that it was, as points were at a premium. But Harris credited both teams’ defenses for the lack of scoring.
“In that fourth game (of a tournament), sometimes you see games go up and down when guys aren’t willing to dig in on the last day,” he said. “But we and Naperville North should feel good about how our guys dug in and defended.”
Highland Park ended the first quarter up 8-5, but Naperville North would tie the game at 10 in the second quarter thanks to Huskies senior forward Chris Gajcak, who scored on a jumper and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions. But Highland Park junior guard Toby Tigges came off the bench to score consecutive three-pointers for the Giants and up the lead to 16-10.
“Those threes were huge for us,” Harris said. “In the course of four games in five days, you need some guys to step up. And it was great to see a couple of our guys off the bench do that.”
Both teams stuck to a primarily half-court game, and the first half ended with the Giants up 20-18. In the third quarter, points continued to be elusive. Naperville North senior guard Brian Dalton hit a three-pointer – the only basket in the quarter for the Huskies — to give North the lead at 21-20. Highland Park senior forward Jordan Krawitz hit two free throws to give the Giants the lead again at 22-21, and guard Jason Beermann hit a jumper to up it to three.
Naperville North senior forward Baylor Griffin hit two free throws to cut the lead to one, which ended the third quarter with Highland Park up 24-23.
Highland Park senior guard David Sachs grew the lead to three with a nice driving lay-up, but neither team would score again until 1:57 left in the game, when Griffin hit two free throws to cut the lead to one. Highland Park grew the lead to two when senior forward Hallvard Lundevall made one of two free throws.
Naperville North senior guard Zach Tuxhorn hit a half-hook in the lane with 41 seconds left in the game — only the second basket of the second half for the Huskies — but it was enough to tie the game at 27. On the next possession, Highland Park’s Krawitz was able to work inside to get a lay-up to give his team a 29-27 lead with 24 seconds to go. After a timeout, Naperville North was unable to even get a shot off. Highland Park forced a turnover, and Sachs hit two free throws to ice the game.
“(Sachs) has a knack for doing that, he really does,” Harris said. “Whether it’s a big steal or a big finish, he’s usually involved. Jordan also had a great shot fake after they had tied the game — and obviously that was the big bucket for us.”
Highland Park (9-3), which is normally a solid shooting team, ended the game shooting 10-33. Naperville North was only 9-24. The Giants next game is Friday at Niles North.