In the regional semifinals, Naperville North girls basketball takes on the Oswego East Wolves at Benet Academy. Naperville North enters as the 9th seed, finishing the regular season 16-14 while finishing 2nd in the DVC conference. Oswego East enters the matchup as the 8th seed, finishing 17-10 in the regular season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
After two minutes, the game remains at 2-0 as the Huskies are back on offense. Following a missed layup, the ball remains with North as they reset their offense. Frempong is unable to convert on her three ball but Sydney Smith is on the glass, grabbing the rebound and scores her second early basket while drawing a foul. North jumps out to an early 4-0 lead.
Naperville North starts the game strong
Later in the first quarter, Frempong grabs the defensive rebound and runs in transition. Frempong attacks the basket using a crossover as she knocks down the tough layup. The start of a big night for Frempong as North leads 10-2.
With less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Wolves look to grab the momentum going into the second. Oswego East’s Maggie Lewandowski swings the ball to Aubrey Lamberti who gets into the lane and knocks down the mid-range jump shot. North leads 16-6.
Next possession for the Wolves, Lewandowski finds Lamberti inside the paint as she converts on the floater over the Husky defense. After the first quarter, North leads 19-10.
Early in the second quarter, the Wolves swing the ball around the court, finding Desiree Merritt in the corner who knocks down the three. The Huskies lead is now down to 19-13.
Later on in the quarter, Lewandowski brings the ball up for the Wolves. Lewandowski throws it to Lamberti but it is stolen by Frempong! Looking to take advantage, Frempong drives into the paint and kicks it out to the corner to Anna Richards, knocking down the three. The Huskies lead is back up above double digits, 25-13 with just over five minutes left in the half.
There is under a minute remaining in the quarter, and the Oswego East offense looks to score quickly. Merritt attacks the Husky defense, and Merritt euro steps through the Husky defense for the score. North leads 30-20.
Anna Richards gives North a commanding halftime lead
About 10 seconds remaining in the first half as the Wolves hold on for the last shot. Lewandowski passes to Samantha Herrick but can’t get her layup to fall, giving the Husky offense a chance to extend the lead. Sydney Smith finds Richards for the three-ball, knocking it down at the buzzer! Going into the second half, Naperville North leads 33-20.
Beginning stages of the third quarter, the Husky offense looks to expand on their lead. Ema Gilyvdis finds Richards in the corner who converts on the contested trey ball. The Huskies are out to a 41-20 advantage
After a defensive stop, Frempong brings the ball up the court for the Husky offense. Lewandowski gets the steal on Frempong as she gets the quick score. The Wolves will need more stops to erase the big deficit.
Under four minutes remaining in the quarter. Ava Podkasik gets the rebound after the Frempong miss. Ava Podkasik finds Sam Kelly who throws a dime to Smith for the score. North leads 45-24.
Oswego East goes on a run to get back in the game
Late in the third, the Wolves are on a 6-0 run as they look to bring their momentum into the fourth quarter. Merritt can’t get her three-point attempt to fall, however the Wolves offense grabs the rebound and the ball goes out to Nicole Warbinski who knocks down the triple. The Wolves go on a 9-0 to close the quarter as they trail 45-33.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Wolves tighten up on the defensive end as they now trail by only six. The Huskies show off their ball movement as Sam Kelly finds Richards for another trey ball. The Huskies lead 50-41.
Approaching the three-minute mark of the fourth, the Wolves offense needs one more run as time is becoming a factor. Lewandowski makes the tough layup over Ava Podkasik (Pod kah sik while drawing the foul. Oswego East trails 55-47.
Moments later after a defensive stop, looking to push the pace for the Wolves offense, Lewandowski finds Merritt who gets into the lane for the tough basket while drawing a foul. East trails just 59-52.
Huskies ice the game late with clutch shots
With just over a minute remaining, Natalie Frempong pushes the pace after breaking through the half-court trap. Frempong finds Sydney Smith for the score to bring the lead back up to double digits, 64-54.
Despite a strong second-half effort by Oswego East, Naperville North holds on for the victory 67-62 behind 31 points from Frempong. Naperville North will take on the number one seed Benet Academy for the regional championship on February 20th.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
