One shot.
That’s all Naperville North needed.
And Jared McIntyre was more than willing to oblige at the right time Friday night against Waubonsie Valley.
The senior point guard came off the bench in the second half to hit two 3-pointers as the Huskies survived for a 42-38 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
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“It was real big,” said McIntyre, a Proviso East transfer. “My team just trusted me to shoot those shots. We were moving the ball and I just wanted to shoot with the system.”
The Huskies (15-1, 7-0) were clinging to a 27-25 lead in the third quarter when McIntyre converted a 3-pointer to push the lead to five.
Junior guard Eric Cannon started the fourth quarter for Waubonsie (8-12, 2-5) with a pair of free throws, but McIntyre struck again. He hit a second three-pointer to give Naperville North its biggest lead at 36-29.
“I didn’t think we played very good on the defensive end the first half,” Huskies coach Jeff Powers said. “A little bit better the second half. We got messed up a bunch of different times. Then offensively, we looked good (Thursday) in practice.
“We were moving hard, cutting hard and the ball went into Chris (Johnson), and everyone just stood there and held up their hands. So a little disappointed in (the) effort of our guys. But Jared came through and hit a couple shots.”
Already without junior guard/forward Tom Welch because of a shoulder injury, Naperville North also lost Johnson at the end. The star senior forward left late in the game with a head injury.
The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Johnson had muscled his way to a team-high 15 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Jack Hill added 10 points.
“Chris was a monster again on both ends of the floor,” Powers said. “That’s how he is. He’s looking for someone, looking. We told him at half, ‘Stop looking. Go to the hole.’ He was a warrior. He got hit pretty hard, so we’ll see.”
Waubonsie made North sweat early and often by playing a possession game. It didn’t hurt that Cannon, a three-year varsity starter, erupted for a game-high 25 points for the Warriors. He scored 15 in the first half.
Sophomore forward Marcus Skeete added 10 points for Waubonsie.
“I was very proud,” Warriors coach Jason Mead said. “They executed our game plan for almost 32 minutes. We had a couple mental lapses … But in general, it was a very disciplined game by us.
“(The Huskies) just hit threes at bad times for us — the third and fourth quarter.”
Blake Baumgartner is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.