Naperville Central overcomes jitters, Metea Valley

First-game jitters are normal for teams on opening night, and the Naperville Central girls basketball team was no exception Friday. But once the Redhawks got rid of them, they produced a 50-45 win over Metea Valley on the first day of their own Tip-Off Tournament.

Coach Andy Nussbaum was very happy with what transpired.

"I'm real pleased because Metea Valley is a very good basketball team. We saw them win the other night by 36," he said. "I was pleased with our team speed. And when juniors become seniors, something happens. We used seven players tonight and six were seniors."

The Redhawks (1-0) led 2-1 when the Mustangs (1-1) called a timeout with 5:23 left in the opening quarter. At that point there were a combined 5 turnovers with Metea committing 3. The Mustangs were 0 of 2 from the field and Naperville Central was 1 of 4.

But after that pause in play, the Redhawks shot 6 of 12 and led 17-11.

Senior Emily Kraft, who finished with 13 points, said it was a case of Naperville Central getting onto the court and not just knowing the team can play together but doing it in a game situation.

"Once we started to get on a roll, it was hard to stop it," she said. "This year we have so many seniors and we love to play together with each other."

The Redhawks stayed on at 50 percent shooting in the second quarter and led at halftime 30-22.

"Everyone has first-game jitters. I still get first-game jitters," Nussbaum said. "I think we were in a hurry in the first quarter and once we settled down we were more in the game."

Although Naperville Central controlled most of the game, the Mustangs kept up the battle until the end. Sophomore Brianna Hall's layup cut the Redhawks' lead to 30-28 about three minutes into the third quarter, but Naperville Central led 39-32 at the end of it.

With 2:29 left in the game, Taseandra Parker, who shared game-high scoring honors with Naperville Central's Cierra Stanciel with 15 points each, hit net to pull her team within 41-40. About a minute later Cheyenne Krehl tied the game at 45 with a 3-point bucket. But time was running out on the Mustangs, and they were forced to foul. Naperville Central killed the rest of the clock while hitting 5 of 6 free throws.

"We came out with a lot of energy. But we committed too many turnovers. When you commit 28 turnovers against a team like Naperville Central it will hurt you in the long run," said Metea Valley coach Cedric Williams. "But the girls didn't quit."

It was a busy day for Mustangs sophomore Nicki Cast. She made a return trip to the girls swimming meet and finished 34th in the preliminary round of diving held Friday morning at Evanston High School. Cast also runs cross country.

"Playing basketball and diving is a challenge. But I did a lot better this year," she said.