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Naperville Central steers clear of Maine West

On the good ship Redhawk, it's nice to have a captain like Matthew Meier at the helm - and a center like Harrison Hallstrom at the mast.

Meier, who coach Pete Kramer calls his "coach on the floor," helped Naperville Central keep it together on a night when they were not at their best, and Hallstrom got the big blocks, rebounds and tough baskets when needed to hold off scrappy Maine West on Monday night 62-51 in the opening round of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.

Naperville Central (8-2), on a six-game winning streak, meets Deerfield at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday in the tournament quarterfinals. Maine West (2-7) has a consolation bracket date with host Wheeling at 2 p.m.

Hallstrom and Meier finished the game the same way they started it - by establishing control for the Redhawks. Hallstrom had the opening bucket, blocked Maine West's first shot attempt, answered a Julian Dones 3 with a one of his own and finished by hitting 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch after Maine West scrapped its way back behind Jack Framke, Marian Johnson and sophomore point guard Dones (16 points).

Meier made sure the Redhawks never lost their focus. Even as Meier played through foul trouble, Kramer trusted him to stay in and provide his steady hand and guidance. Smart move. His driving buckets broke the game open in the third quarter and Meier finished with 14 points.

When he wasn't scoring, Meier was helping Nick Kramer, James Kendrick and Justin Jopes get open for 3-pointers.

"He's our coach on the floor. He's our leader," said coach Kramer of Meier.

The Redhawks hope to play more crisply against their next foe.

"For Deerfield, we know they're a really good offensive-set team, so we'll have to get our defense going," said Hallstrom.

"We didn't have any rhythm," said Kramer, whose team was taking final exams earlier in the day. "We were a little flat."

Maine West had something to do with that. Young, shorter and not as deep, Maine West still hung around and crept within 57-51 with just under a minute left on a Marian Johnson free throw and a Dones scoop-drive.

"We played hard," said coach John Bongiorno. "We needed a few more stops. They're (Naperville) a good team. They hit their outside shots."

That made it hard to collapse on Hallstrom, and to rebound with him. The taller Redhawks owned the boards by a 29-10 margin.

The Warriors are still without JoJo Rios, one of their leading scorers. He's not expected back before the new year.

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