Niles North guards Reid Olson and Yaris Irby have been varsity mainstays for a combined seven seasons. They play with flair and style and swagger.
Or at least they used to. Now seniors, Olson and Irby have toned down the flash and found a new focus.
“This year we know we can make a run,” Irby said. We found a way to come together and focus on winning. Scoring 30 points, 40 points. We can all do that. It doesn’t matter anymore. We just want to win.”
The whole Vikings squad has bought in to the new discipline and it was on display in a dominant 61-47 win at Lake Forest on Saturday.
“We know we can get a good shot every time now,” Olson said. “We don’t need to force anything anymore. We let the game come to us, make the right play and play together as a team.”
No. 10 Niles North shot 21-for-36 and despite being shorter at every position on the floor, held their own on the boards against the Scouts.
“Our season started with two losses,” Vikings coach Glenn Olson said. “It wasn’t that we lost, it was the amount of points we gave up. We realized last year that was our downfall. We can put a lot of numbers on the board.”
The losses were to DePaul Prep and Lane and were without Irby, who missed the first five games of the season.
“They are in really good rhythm now that Irby is back,” Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. “He’s a stud. He can score in so many different ways.”
Irby finished with 26 points and Olson added 11 points and five assists. Dylan Lam pitched in with 11 points and 6-6 Hunter Gawron scored 10 and grabbed four rebounds while manning the post against Lake Forest’s 6-7 Hudson Scroggins and 6-10 Grant Mordini.
“We were on the chase like 90% of the time,” La Scala said. “Our defense, they put us on the run. They do a great job of pushing the ball.”
Scroggins led the Scouts (6-3) with 13 points and five rebounds. Dominic Mordini had 11 points and four rebounds and Finn Graf added nine points.
The Vikings (8-2) beat Simeon last week, another sign that they are one of the most talented teams in the area. A trip to the state finals in Champaign is a legitimate possibility for Niles North.
“[The school community] is starting to realize how good we are,” Reid Olson said. “I hope we start getting more consistent crowds. We are a pretty fun team to watch.”
The Vikings will be one of the favorites at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic next week.
“I have three guys that have scored 30 points in a game,” Glenn Olson said. “But that’s over now. These guys they don’t care about any of that anymore. A truly great player makes those around them better and that’s how they are playing now.”