Niles North junior Reid Olson has his spot on the floor. And it’s a few feet behind every other shooter’s preferred location.
Olson likes it to the right of the basket and about three feet behind the arc.
“Every time he shoots, I think it is going in,” Vikings junior Dylan Lam said. “He’s pretty automatic.”
Olson scored 30 points, shot 7-for-13 from three-point range and had three steals to lead Niles North in a 74-62 win against Prospect on Friday in Mt. Prospect.
It was the first 30-point game of the season for Olson.
“I’ve been feeling better shooting the ball lately,” Olson said. “I had a tough stretch in the season, but I just kept on shooting and now it is starting to come back.”
The Vikings (24-7) are one of the most talented teams in the area offensively. Junior Yaris Irby has scored more than 30 points four times this season. Lam (11 points), Kaidan Chatham (10 points) and Hunter Gawron (11 points, seven rebounds) are all threats to score.
“Anyone on the team can go off for 20 plus in any game,” Olson said. “With that many threats, we are pretty confident going into games.”
Olson, the son of Niles North coach Glenn Olson, and Irby make up one of the area’s most exciting backcourts.
“Reid works really hard and plays really hard,” Glenn Olson said. “Freshman and sophomore year, he was more of a spot-up shooter, and now he’s added a lot to his game.”
Olson scored 19 in the first half, and the Vikings led 34-23. Prospect (22-9) cut the deficit to eight early in the third quarter on a three-pointer by senior Jerry Drucker, but that was as close as it would get.
Senior Drew Terpins led the Knights with 19 points and six rebounds. Drucker scored 11 points, and 6-5 senior Shavez Rodgers added 10.
Junior Ben Schneider, who was expected to be Prospect’s best player this season, hasn’t played since getting injured in the second game.
“[Schneider] would have partnered nicely with Terpins,” Knights coach Brad Rathe said. “So things changed a lot for us. But we’ve fought hard since then to get to where we are, and I’m super proud of the kids. It’s been a really fun group to coach.”
Prospect hosts Buffalo Grove in a Class 4A regional semifinal Wednesday.
Several teams in the area have canceled games this week or strictly played reserves. The Knights and Niles North went at it full steam.
“We wanted to stick to our pattern and stay on schedule,” Glenn Olson said. “It would have been unnatural for us to have seven days off before we played.”
Niles North hasn’t lost to a local team since Jan. 19, and that was a 67-60 defeat to Thornton. The Vikings haven’t spent much time in the Super 25 this season, but they are a threat to win the Maine South Sectional.
Niles North is the No. 5 seed and has a tough regional semifinal at Oak Park on Wednesday. Gawron, a 6-6 junior has emerged as an athletic post force.
“I’ve known Hunter since kindergarten,” Lam said. “His progression has been amazing. And overall, we are trusting each other, and we’ve really turned into a team over the last few months.”
