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Naperville Central goes to the basket

Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer talked to his team about attacking the basket.

Redhawks guard Matthew Meier heard the message loud and clear, especially in the fourth quarter when the junior took control of a close boys basketball contest with Plainfield East.

Meier scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, including 3 field goals in the lane, leading to a 47-43 nonconference win over the visiting Bengals Tuesday night.

"We kept attacking and moving the ball around and got into halftime with the lead," Meier said. "The biggest thing is that we finished the game. The last couple of games we haven't finished the games in the fourth quarter and tonight we did."

Meier also finished 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, including two with 8.6 seconds left that sealed the win.

"We always tell him that (free throws) are a strength of his," Kramer said of Meier. "We tell him, 'Try and get to the line when you can.' The clock's stopped and we're scoring points."

Plainfield East jumped out to a 7-3 lead early on, but Naperville Central (12-8) finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run that started with a 3-pointer by Harrison Hallstrom and ended with a 3-pointer from Meier that gave the Redhawks their first lead at 10-7.

Naperville Central held the lead the entire second and third quarters thanks in large part to the play of Hallstrom. The junior forward scored three straight field goals in the third quarter, all of them coming on offensive rebounds, including his own miss on a 3-point attempt.

"It was good to see Harry have a game like that," Kramer said. "He's been struggling the last few games, but when he's part of the mix, we're tough to beat. I could tell when he hit a big 3-pointer early and the way he was rebounding, that's the way he can play."

The Bengals took their last lead at 36-35 when University of Illinois-bound Aaron Jordan knocked down a baseline 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the game.

After Jordan split a pair of free throws to tie the game 42-42 with 1:41 left, Meier followed on the next possession, driving toward the right block, creating separation from the defender with a crossover and knocking down an open jumper to give his team the lead back for good.

Following Meier's aforementioned free throws with 8.6 seconds left, the Bengals had one last chance to send the game to overtime, but Jordan's 3-point attempt missed the mark.

Meier was fouled after grabbing the rebound and hit 1 of 2 free throws for the game's final score.

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