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Naperville Central drops Wheaton North in key DVC game

There's something about a girls basketball game between Naperville Central and Wheaton North. Thursday's edition didn't disappoint.

"I don't really know how it started really, I just know that we really are going at each other all the time," Redhawks junior Lucy Schmid said. "We both really are good teams and every time we play them we have a really intense game."

Host Naperville Central scored 25 points in the fourth quarter and celebrated a 46-37 victory to remain undefeated in the DuPage Valley Conference. The Redhawks (16-4, 6-0) are two games ahead of the defending champion Falcons (12-4, 5-2) in the loss columnn in the league standings. Wheaton Warrenville South and Lake Park also have two DVC losses.

"We're the only one undefeated now, and I'm really excited about the spot we're in, but we still have a lot of good teams to play," Schmid said.

In a game with seven ties and five lead changes, the Falcons held a 24-21 edge to start the fourth quarter after holding the Redhawks to just 2 third-quarter points.

"Boy, in the third quarter we just laid an egg and I thought, what is going on?" Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said.

His Redhawks made a dramatic reversal in the fourth quarter, scoring 25 points.

A Schmid 3-pointer drew the Redhawks even, and a Mia Lakstigala 3 gave them the lead for good at 31-29 with 5:11 to play.

"Those were two really, really critical baskets I thought in terms of us getting momentum," said Nussbaum, who called the matchup "a pretty critical game for us."

A Maiah DeShazer basket with 2:32 to go put the Redhawks ahead 39-31, the biggest margin of the game for either team to that point.

"We haven't practiced great," Falcons coach Dave Eaton said. "Our practice the other day was really bad. We're just not quite there yet as a group and we've got to not be looking for shortcuts to try to find it. It's going to take a lot of hard work now."

Lakstigala led the Redhawks with 18 points, and Schmid added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Nikki Baird's 12 points led the Falcons, followed by 10 for Hannah Swider. The Redhawks made 13 of 14 free throws, all of them in the fourth quarter. The Falcons did them one better, going a perfect 15 of 15 at the line in the game.

The teams will meet again in a month.

"Whenever we play, the game means something, usually for the conference championship, so that just breeds a great rivalry in that fact that every time you're playing there's a conference championship on the line," Eaton said. "Hopefully when we play them next time there will be a conference championship on the line then (Feb. 3) too."

Images: Naperville Central vs. Wheaton North, girls basketball

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