Naperville Central stuns Naperville North
Friday night’s visit by Naperville North to Naperville Central proved to be a textbook example of why records really don’t matter when rivals get together.
Naperville Central entered the contest on a three-game losing streak and had just found out it was seeded 19 of 23 teams in the upcoming Class 4A East Aurora sectional, while Naperville North was just 48 hours removed from its biggest win of the season, a last-second defeat of West Aurora that put second place in the DuPage Valley Conference within reach.So, naturally, the Redhawks led for the game#146;s final 28 minutes in posting a rather comfortable 51-42 victory over the Huskies.
#147;We needed that,#148; said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. #147;These guys have battled every game, been in every game, and we finally just played four quarters of tough basketball. We caught them maybe a little flat and we took advantage of it.#148;
The game was hardly an artistic success with the team#146;s combining for 42 turnovers and just 27 field goals. There were some flashes of brilliance, however, mainly the first three minutes of the fourth quarter that were played by David Niggins, whose determined forays to the basket resulted in 8 points in that stretch to help Naperville Central (10-13, 3-8) open its biggest lead of the night at 42-33. From there Mike Schremp, Alex Renn and Ian Lewandowski combined to hit 9 of 10 free throws to help keep the Huskies (13-10, 7-4) at bay.
#147;Coach told me to get to the rim, go hard and tough and strong and if you don#146;t score, you go to the line,#148; said Niggins, who tied Schremp for game-high scoring honors with 16 points. #147;(Beating North) makes it a lot better; beating your rival school, there#146;s nothing better than that.#148;
The Redhawks really shone on the defensive end as Niggins, Hayden Daniels, Renn and Nick Czarnowski teamed to hold Naperville North#146;s rugged inside trio of Matt LaCosse, Jake DuPre#146; and Jon Mengel to 17 total points. Combined with off shooting nights from Naperville North guards Jovonn Griffin and Nick Buege, who teamed to make just 3 of 13 shots and zero 2-point baskets, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the Huskies, who had only 12 field goals on the night.
#147;I#146;m a little disappointed, but my credit to Pete and his kids,#148; said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. #147;They did a nice job and had energy. I thought our kids played hard, but we just couldn#146;t throw the ball in the basket.#148;
Trailing 5-1 early, the Redhawks moved ahead for good with an 8-0 run thanks to 3-pointers from Lewandowski and Schrempf. Kyle Lindberg#146;s buzzer-beating 3-pointer pulled Naperville North within 11-10 after one quarter, but Schremp#146;s 7 second-quarter points helped Naperville Central to a 25-20 lead at the half. The closest the Huskies got in the second half was 28-27 when LaCosse split a pair of free throws with 4:30 left in the third quarter.