O’Brien: Unbeaten Wheaton-Warrenville South takes down Naperville North

The cult of the coach is pretty huge in every level of every sport these days, and it is the same in high school basketball. There are legendary coaches that seem to bend games to their will every season.

Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Dillon Durrett isn’t having any of that.

“Winning is not up to [Tigers coach Mike Healy], it is up to us,” Durrett said.

That kind of take charge, take responsibility attitude is uncommon in high school athletes and serves as a clue as to just how unknown, unheralded Wheaton-Warrenville South is off to a perfect 8-0 start this season. The Tigers held on to beat Naperville North, a preseason Super 25 team, 43-42 on Tuesday in Naperville.

The Huskies (5-2, 2-1 DuPage Valley) are one of the biggest teams in the area, with three starters over 6-5. Wheaton-Warrenville South is tiny, but that didn’t show in the rebounding stats, where the Tigers held an 18-14 advantage.

“Really, wow,” Wheaton-Warrenville South senior Drew Healy, who is 5-8, said. “They are big, maybe they weren’t expecting us to bring it. Turns out we got them.”

Healy scored nine points and ran the offense well. Durrett, a 6-3 senior, led the Tigers (8-0, 4-0) with 14 points and four rebounds.

“Our guards were just gritty, the Healy brothers [Drew and Jake, a junior] especially,” Durrett said. “[Jake] Ruggles had an amazing game. We were just making shots and outplaying them.”

Wheaton-Warrenville South led by five at the half and by eight when Durrett picked up a technical foul after blocking a shot. Naperville North took back the momentum with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just one point.

“It felt like we were just leaking oil,” Mike Healy said.

Naperville North’s Tyler Carlson had a half-court heave at the buzzer that could have won it, but it fell short.

“We kind of hung on there,” Mike Healy said. “It was not the prettiest fourth quarter. Our guys scratch and claw. I would think we are frustrating to play against.”

The Tigers definitely frustrated Naperville North’s star player Mitch Lewis. The 6-6 senior finished with four points and three rebounds.

“[Lewis] probably didn’t expect it from us,” Durrett said. “He may have heard things about our season and how it was going but I don’t think he believed it.”

Carlson led the Huskies with 13 points and 6-7 junior Chris Johnson added eight.

“I have a lot of faith in our guys and they have a lot of faith in each other, they trust each other,” Mike Healy said. “They have kind of taught the staff to believe. I’m not going to lie, going to Wheaton North and to Naperville North and to come out with two wins, I’m not sure anybody expected that except our kids.”

Wheaton-Warrenville South has always been known as a football school. That may be starting to change. The basketball team has been very competitive the past few seasons and the school started up the area’s first 16-team Martin Luther King weekend tournament a few years ago. The idea was met with a lot of skepticism initially, but it has turned out to be one of the better events of the season.

“People think football with us, for sure,” Drew Healy said. “The plan is to change that. The seniors last year got us going, set the tone, set the bar high and we’ve followed that.”