Lake Park ends Naperville Central's nine-game winning streak

Lake Park and Naperville Central both left the Redhawks' gym Friday night feeling like winners.

Lake Park won the girls basketball game 61-52 in the regular-season finale, with four Lancers scoring in double digits.

"It shows a lot about our program," Lake Park senior Jen Warfield said. "We really were going after the title this year. We had a few missteps, but we showed we're growing and we're getting there and hopefully next year we'll get the title."

The Lancers (15-10, 10-6) will have to get it from the Redhawks. Naperville Central not only celebrated senior night but the DuPage Valley Conference championship.

"It feels awesome," Redhawks senior Katie McBain said of the DVC title. "This team, I'm so proud of them. We worked so hard this season. We proved a lot of people wrong and we really came out there and did our best."

The Redhawks (22-8, 13-3) clinched the league title outright when second-place Neuqua Valley (12-4) lost at Glenbard North on Thursday night.

"We were really excited last night when we found out the news," Redhawks senior Hannah Swarm said.

The Lancers built a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter only to see the Redhawks trim it to 4. A Jordan Bradley free throw and 3-pointer slowed the Redhawks' momentum and gave the Lancers some breathing room.

Lake Park also defeated the Redhawks on Jan. 9. In between came a nine-game Naperville Central winning streak. The teams likely won't meet in the playoffs, having been sent to different sectionals.

"Lake Park's a strong team," Swarm said. "They're a tough matchup for us and we knew that coming in, but I'm proud of the way we played."

Bradley finished with 17 points, making four 3-pointers. Warfield added 16 points, 14 in the second half. Sophomores Carson Vance and Camryn James each added 10. The Lancers shot 9 of 23 from 3-point range.

"I believe in it," Lake Park coach Brian Rupp said of the long ball. "I'm one of those people who believes it's a very important part of the game. Ever since I took us over we've been one of the better 3-point shooting teams. I love when five people can shoot it because it makes us hard to guard."

Senior Hannah Swarm led the Redhawks with 12 points, and classmate Kaylee Cunningham added 11.

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