Naperville North might have been expected to come out a little flat against Highland Park in its final game of the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York High School in Elmhurst since the night before the team lost a heart-breaker in double overtime against Lyons Township High School, 59-56, after tying the game with a shot at the buzzer.
But neither Naperville North nor Highland Park had many positive possessions in what turned out to be a defensive battle that North lost, 31-27, last week.
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Naperville North head coach Jeff Powers was not going there with any excuses.
“It wasn’t the game last night — our concentration, our movement was slow,” he said. “(We had) no sharp cuts; no one wanted the ball, and our guards didn’t penetrate at all when they got the pass on the outside.
“I’m pretty disappointed. They played like a very young, inexperienced team today,” Powers said.
While the offense never found its groove, the defense allowed the Huskies to stay in the game despite only shooting 9-24 from the field. Highland Park head coach Paul Harris was impressed with the way both teams were able to keep pressure on the ball.
“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,” Harris said. “But we and Naperville North should feel good about how our guys dug in and defended.”
It was indeed the fourth game in five days for both teams. Naperville North began the tournament with wins over Glenbard East (45-36) and Palatine (49-48), before falling to Lyons. Highland Park had blowout victories over Sandburg (69-26) and Elk Grove High School (60-34) before falling to the eventual tournament champ, Lake Forest, 51-43. The loss put them in the consolation bracket and matched against the Huskies in the 32-team tournament.
From the start of the game, points were at a premium. 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. Highland Park responded when junior guard Toby Tigges came off the bench to score two 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, scoring continued to prove elusive for both teams. Naperville North senior guard Brian Dalton hit a three-pointer to give the Huskies the lead at 21-20, but it would be their only basket in the quarter. 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 layup to open the quarter, 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 upped 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, giving 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.
“It was a poor job by me,” Powers said. “I couldn’t get them motivated. All around bad effort by coach, bad effort by players.”