Rugamba basket at buzzer lifts Naperville Central

This weekend was a doubleheader for the Naperville Central boys basketball team. On Friday night it was the DuPage Valley Conference opener, an 18-point victory over Glenbard North.

Just 24 hours later, the Redhawks returned to their home court for a nonconference battle against Glenbard West. There's not much of a rivalry. The game might have some influence in postseason seedings. It had the makings of a game that might cause indifference.

Wrong. Naperville Central won just before the buzzer 47-45 against a Hilltoppers squad that put up a big fight in the second half.

"There's some things that we need to work on on defense. Tonight the shots were not falling and we needed to win on defense," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "But we got it done with sophomores and a bunch of juniors."

The Redhawks shot 13 of 33 from the field during the first three quarters.

With 4:43 left in the game, Naperville Central led 41-33 on a layup from Harrison Hallstrom off a pass from Emmanuel Rugamba. But over the next minute the Hilltoppers (3-3) went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to pull to within 41-37. At the 2:29 mark Glenbard West's Brian Cochrane, second on the team with 12 points, sank his third and final 3-pointer of the night to make it 41-40 Redhawks. About a minute later, Hallstrom, who led his team with 14 points, converted on a putback to increase his team's lead to 3.

The Hilltoppers' Justin Pierce, who led all scorers with 18, made just one basket in the fourth quarter, but he made it count big time. His 3 tied the game at 43. Then with less than a minute to play, Naperville Central's Brandon Baskin made good on a short jumper to put the Redhawks (5-1) up by 2.

With just 26 seconds remaining, Glenbard West's Alex Passi drove through the lane for a layup to tie it at 45. That set the stage for Naperville Central's final drive at the basket. The Redhawks missed their first two shots, but Rugamba grabbed the rebound off the second shot and deposited it just before the buzzer sounded for the win.

Meier said getting contributions from everyone on the team has been key to the Redhawks' success so far.

"Coach said only me and Nate (Dahl) have significant varsity playing time. But guys are stepping up and that's why we're winning," he said.

Naperville Central led 27-17 at halftime. But 9 points from Pierce during the third quarter and the team going 5 of 6 overall from the free-throw line gave them a 12-4 scoring advantage over the Redhawks during the period and put the Hilltoppers ahead 31-29 at the end of 24 minutes. Glenbard West shot 50 percent from the field in the final quarter, the Redhawks hit for 60 percent.

"We were trying to force it down to the post. But we would get double-teamed and have to kick it to the outside. That caused some turnovers. But we were able to pull this one out," Hallstrom said.