Naperville Central notches DVC victory

The importance of the end of the first half and start of the third quarter cannot be overstated in a boys basketball game.

Saturday night in Naperville, Lake Park found out the hard way.

After struggling mightily offensively well into the second quarter, Naperville Central outscored Lake Park 18-4 in the closing and opening moments of the middle two quarters.

Converting free throws in crunchtime is equally vital, and the Redhawks made 13 of their 14 fourth-quarter attempts to end a season-long DuPage Valley Conference losing streak with a 53-44 victory.

The coaches were in agreement as to the turning point in the contest.

"We have stressed that: to close out the second quarter and be ready to open the second half," Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said. "Those were two big moments of the game."

"I think that was the difference in the game," Lake Park coach Josh Virostko added about Naperville Central turning a 23-15 deficit into a 32-26 advantage. "That gave them momentum to go into the second half."

Naperville Central 6-foot-8 post player Ben Wolf, who led the Redhawks with 19 points and 7 rebounds, scored as time expired in the second quarter to conclude an 8-point unanswered run.

The Redhawks (6-12, 1-7) and Lancers (9-8, 4-4) were tied at 23-23 at the break.

"After we tied it at halftime, we thought that we could get this 'W,'" Wolf said. "We got some confidence, and that gave us momentum."

The game seesawed for much of the second half as Tyler O'Brien gave Naperville Central its first lead of the night with a three-point play.

The Lancers' Garett Fant, who tied Wolf with 19 points, had three 3-pointers - including a 4-point play - in the second half.

There were lead changes on four consecutive possessions to start the fourth quarter.

But Noah Swope, gave Naperville Central a much-needed spark with 13 points off the bench, and his pair of free throws gave the Redhawks the lead for good at 40-39.

Naperville Central scored the next 6 points, only to see Lake Park cut its deficit to a one-possession game, 46-44, on an Andrew Vega field goal with 1:20 to play.

The Redhawks, though, sank 7 of 8 free throws to close out the Lancers.

"Going into halftime, we should have had over a 10-point lead," Fant said. "We lost all the momentum there."