Naperville North senior point guard Max Steele can’t believe he’s playing his fourth season of varsity basketball.
Time seems to have flown by since the 5-foot-9 Steele debuted as a sharp-shooting freshman three years ago.
“It’s been an awesome journey,” he said. “It’s just so cool, all the different faces I’ve been with in this program.
“The coaches have stayed the same. Our practices still look the same.”
But the roster around Steele has completely changed since he was a freshman playing a key role off the bench.
“I learned from leaders like Luke (Williams) and Bryce (Welch), and last year we had (co-captains) Rizwan (Zubair) and Ashton (Hartmann),” he said.
Now it’s Steele’s turn to take the helm. A third-year starter, Steele is running the point for the second straight season, but he and senior guard Miles Okyne are two of the Huskies’ captains and are expected to provide leadership.
So far, they’ve got Naperville North humming. Okyne and junior guard Jack Zitko each scored 14 points, senior guard Carson Loughlin had 12 points and Steele added eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Huskies beat Shepard 63-36 on the road in Palos Heights on Tuesday.
It was the fourth win by double digits for Naperville North (4-1), which rested its starters in the fourth quarter after taking a 29-point lead against the Astros (2-2) despite a significant size disadvantage.
Amari Williams, Shepard’s 6-9 sophomore center, was held to just four shots and five points by 6-3 senior forward Will Harvey and his backup, 6-5 junior Reid Montanari.
“Preparing for Shepard has been a lot of us, but mainly Max, just holding everyone accountable, making sure we’re all in our right spots,” Okyne said. “Tonight it came into play a lot with Will Harvey being super physical down there, trying to hold him as best we can.”
Williams rarely got the ball thanks to Naperville North’s swarming defense. Steele led that effort, getting three steals in the first quarter, during which five Huskies scored to build a 22-9 lead.
Naperville North shot 26 of 43. Okyne, who hit a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter, not long ago was in the stands watching Steele shoot like that.
“What got him here is his incredible ability to shoot the ball,” Okyne said. “Freshman and sophomore years, I was at the games watching him play, and he was obviously with a team of a bunch of older guys, so it’s difficult to be the star.
“But I think as time has gone on, he’s become a great leader. He’s guiding traffic, getting us into our sets and just kind of holding everyone accountable, while still scoring and shooting.”
Steele said Okyne has been instrumental in helping him lead.
“I couldn’t ask for a better co-partner,” Steele said. “He’s been just as great of a leader. He’s really helped me try to take this team to the next level.”
The Huskies returned their entire starting lineup after winning 17 games last season, so improvement was expected. But Steele made sure that was never taken for granted.
“The thing that I’ve improved on the most, and especially Myles and a lot of my other teammates, is just leadership,” Steele said. “We’ve worked super hard over the summer and in the fall with our open gyms for skill development.
“Everyone on the team has gotten stronger and gotten better at dribbling and shooting and rebounding. When we mess up, we take accountability. But what I love about this team is whenever someone does something great, they’re the first one to pick up other people. That’s what really keeps our team together.”
Steele, who has committed to play baseball at Benedictine, intends to major in business. Naperville North coach Gene Nolan has taught Steele in the Business INCubatoredu program and said he will do well.
“He’s a born leader,” Nolan said. “Everything you’d want in a young man in your program, he does it. He’s just been absolutely terrific. He’s got a very bright future.”
As might the Huskies, although Steele is savoring every day and every victory.
“We’re not looking ahead and not getting caught up in the past,” he said. “So we’re going to enjoy this one today, and then we’re going to focus on DeKalb for Friday, which should be a big game.
“But with the group of guys we have and the personalities, I think we could be a very special team, and I’m really looking forward to this year.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
