Layla Henderson is the ‘greatest free-throw shooter ever,’ or at least in Naperville North’s interstate success story

Naperville North senior guard Layla Henderson was the picture of serenity as she walked to the free-throw line after being fouled on a 3-point shot on Monday.

Looks can be deceiving.

“It was a facade,” Henderson said. “I was a little nervous. My free-throw percentage isn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be this season, but I went into it trying to be very calm, kind of knowing the game was on the line.

“I feel like staying composed helped me.”

With her team trailing by a point, Henderson sank all three free-throw attempts with 6.2 seconds remaining to lift the Huskies to a 34-33 victory against Lake Central at the 33rd annual Coach Kipp’s Hoopsfest at Benet.

The Johns Hopkins-bound Henderson, who finished with five points and four assists for the Huskies (16-7), had struggled at the line this season, including missing her only previous attempt Monday.

“It was funny because the Lake Central girls were like, ‘She has to make all three,’” Henderson said. “It’s very much on you, making the free throws.

“You’re alone. It’s basically all on you.”

Yet Naperville North coach Erin Colletti and her assistant, Molly Murray, had confidence in Henderson.

“We do a drill called ‘three in a row free throw’ every day, where you have to make three in a row in order to score two points, and then you have to get to 100,” Colletti said. “So I’m constantly telling our girls when they get to the free-throw line, ‘Three in a row.’

“Today I said, ‘Layla, this is three in a row.’ And coach Murray is like, ‘You’re the greatest free-throw shooter ever,’ just giving her the confidence. Those are huge.”

Lake Central (16-5) was unable to get a shot off after Henderson’s free throws. After both teams combined to call three timeouts, Henderson forced a Lake Central player to step out of bounds with 3.4 seconds left, and the Huskies ran out the clock.

“I can’t fault our kids’ effort,” Lake Central coach Joe Huppenthal said. “We fought like crazy, and it just didn’t go our way.

“Everybody played their butts off, and it’s been a consistent factor all throughout the year. We got beat by one, but I felt like we won.”

The Indians, who erased a 16-8 second-quarter deficit and led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter, certainly could have.

McKendree recruit Abby Drendel scored a game-high 15 points for the Huskies, including a 3-pointer that tied it at 29-29. Pomona-bound Abby Homan added 10 points, the last coming on a game-tying inside basket with 2:15 left.

Aniyah Bishop answered with a driving layup to give Lake Central a 33-31 lead with 30 seconds left. She and Ayla Krygier each had eight points to lead the Indians, who weren’t fazed by the big stage despite having no seniors.

“The atmosphere really didn’t affect us as much because we’re so used to playing in front of tons of people, so we were still together,” Bishop said. “Our shots just didn’t fall today, so it is what it is.

“You can’t get down on one another because things happen in life. We all go down together.”

The interstate matchup provided players on both sides with an opportunity to play an unfamiliar opponent.

“They’re a very solid team,” Henderson said. “We had played La Lumiere earlier this season, so it was kind of similar preparation. We watched a lot of film in the days prior. That was our only prep. It worked out in the end.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.