Naperville Central blocks Neuqua Valley
Emma Donahue must have felt like a hockey goaltender warding off a power play.
Going 6-foot-3 between the pipes helps.
Donahue and the Naperville Central defense turned away an onslaught of Neuqua Valley shots from in close in the final 90 seconds, and the host Redhawks held on for a 45-40 win.
“We always want a hand in there to disrupt the offense,” Donahue said. “We have different people who can cause conflict for the other team.”
No. 10 Neuqua (13-3) trailed 41-38 with 1:38 left. After their final timeout the Wildcats missed a flurry of shots near the basket. Donahue had 2 of her 5 blocks in the heat of the action.
A Jill D'Amico score pushed the margin to 5. Neuqua pulled within 43-40 and had a chance to tie it after a Naperville Central turnover in its backcourt. But Amber Smith missed a corner 3 and Jamie Cuny hit two free throws for the Redhawks.
“Our size presented them some problems,” said Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum, who played four kids 6-foot or taller. “We probably didn't handle their pressure as much as I would have liked. But this is a pretty good win for us.”
Neuqua (13-3), which lost for the second time in three games, looked out of sync for much of the night in the halfcourt and failed to score more than 40 points for just the second time. The Wildcats trailed 24-19 at the half, and it was 30-22 two minutes into the third quarter before Neuqua's pressure jump-started a comeback.
A 10-0 run capped by Najee Smith's steal and 2 free throws gave Neuqua a 32-30 lead. Donahue's free throw pushed Naperville Central ahead 35-34 to close the quarter, and Neuqua went scoreless the first 4:24 of the fourth.
The Wildcats missed their first 5 free throws of the fourth quarter and only made 2 of 9 in the quarter. Neuqua leading scorer Megan Doody was held to 8 points on 2-of-14 shooting, scoreless in the fourth.
“Inexperience exposed — the whole game,” Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. “Everybody's not shocked and awed by us anymore. They're going to look for and expose your weaknesses just like good teams do. Our weakness right now is our inexperience. If we can sort things out by the end of the year, we'll be fine.”
Emma Ondik scored 15 points for Naperville Central (11-7), a big 3-pointer with 5:52 left extending the Redhawks lead to 40-34. But several complementary parts played huge roles throughout.
Cuny nailed four straight 3-pointers in the first quarter to help Naperville Central to an early lead and finished with 14 points.
KJ Lark, a transfer to Naperville Central this year and eligible effective Dec. 27, came off the bench late in the third quarter and pulled down 9 rebounds in abbreviated minutes. None was bigger than her offensive board and kick-out to Ondik for the wide-open 3-pointer and 6-point lead.
“(Lark) is pretty athletically talented,” Nussbaum said. “That was a big 3.”
Malia Smith scored 9 points and Alexa Wilde had 7 points and 12 rebounds. The Wildcats pounded the offensive glass to the tune of 20 offensive rebounds, and forced 25 turnovers. Donahue had 5 points and 9 rebounds for Naperville Central.