Luke Williams misses two dunk attempts. That’s about all that goes wrong for Naperville North and its star vs. Central.

Naperville North star Luke Williams wasn’t surprised to get taken out of the game after missing consecutive dunk attempts in the second quarter Friday night.

He got a gentle reminder from coach Gene Nolan, who subbed him back in after the next possession.

What exactly was said?

“Just, ‘I know the adrenaline rush you feel right now. Just get back in there. If you get another fast break, lay it up. It’s going to come, so just be patient,’” Williams recounted.

Williams’ next chance came seconds after he reentered. The junior guard, who also is a major Division I prospect in football, made a steal and went coast to coast, and this time he settled for a layup.

The basket capped an 18-2 run that proved to be decisive for the host Huskies, who rolled past crosstown rival Naperville Central 65-35 in a DuPage Valley Conference game.

“I was just taking coach’s advice just to lay it up,” Williams said. “I know it’s going to come for me. I can’t force it, so I’ve just got to be in the moment.”

Williams and his teammates had plenty of good moments in their surprisingly easy victory. The ironic thing about the missed dunks was the Huskies (6-4, 2-1) didn’t miss many other shots against the Redhawks (4-7, 0-3), finishing 24 of 39 (61.5%) from the floor and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Williams’ first post-dunk layup gave Naperville North a 29-11 lead, and he scored the final six points of the half to bump the lead to 38-15. Four of those points came off steals.

Williams finished with a game-high 18 points, five steals and four assists, most of which came in the opening minutes as he found Cole Arl, Bryce Welch and Jacob Nolen for 3-pointers.

“I was just trying to get my teammates open to get open shots,” Williams said. “Bryce and Cole were hitting open shots and getting to the rim, and we were getting offensive rebounds.”

Arl, who had three assists and three steals, and Nolen each scored 11 points, and Charlie Farrell came off the bench to contribute nine points, including two dunks, and four rebounds.

Grant Montanari added eight points on 4-for-4 shooting and six rebounds, and he was an integral part of a defensive effort that forced the Redhawks into 21 turnovers.

“We chart deflections, and Grant Montanari at the top did a really nice job of getting hands on the ball and making it that the passes aren’t direct,” Nolan said. “That allows the other players time to get to where they need to go.

“So I thought our kids did the best effort they can give against a team that is as talented offensively as Naperville Central.”

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Indeed, the Huskies held Naperville Central standout Simon Krugliakovas to 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Only six of those points came in the first half, and no teammate reached double figures.

“Simon, we knew we had to stop him,” Williams said. “We knew he could shoot threes, so we had to keep the ball out of his hands, just making him pass it and make unknowns beat us. All of us knew where he was at all times.”

The defensive success carried over to the offense.

“We use ball movement, waiting for dominoes to fall on the offense,” Nolen said. “We always try to find those open shots. Tonight we hit them.”

It was the fourth straight win for the Huskies, who entertained a large crowd with their most dominant performance of the season.

“I don’t feel surprised,” Williams said. “I just know that’s our true potential, and if we just play like that every game, that can be the margin of victory every game.”

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