advertisement

Naperville Central earns share of DVC championship again

Naperville Central traveled to Wheaton North intent on claiming a share of the DuPage Valley Conference girls basketball championship.

But first the Redhawks had to solve Falcons junior Sarah Topps, or at least slow her down.

The Redhawks overcame Topps' breakout day and a 14-point first-quarter deficit to earn a 51-45 victory in Wheaton and claim another DVC title. They can win the championship outright with a victory Thursday against Lake Park or a Wheaton Warrenville South loss in its final two league games.

The Redhawks have won at least a share of the league three of the past four seasons and 11 times since 2002.

"It feels really good," Naperville Central senior Mia Lakstigala said after she and her teammates celebrated. "We've been working hard the entire season for this. We were down early, but we decided to pull it together because we really wanted to win this and I think that really showed."

They trailed 21-7 after the first quarter mainly because of Topps. She scored 14 points in the first quarter, making all four of the 3-pointers she attempted. She finished with a personal-best 23 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

"That's incredible," Falcons senior Hannah Swider said. "I was so proud of her. Every time she scored I was like, this girl, they're not expecting this. She just started coming out and lighting it up. I was so proud of her. Every time she made a basket I had the biggest grin on my face for her because she works so hard and she deserves it."

The Redhawks (24-5, 14-1) slowed Topps down by switching to a man-to-man defense and handing the job of guarding her to senior guard Maiah DeShazer.

"Topps is a really good player," DeShazer said, "which means that we have to get down on defense a little bit more on the good players, which is what we did. We got down on her and Swider, which helped us in the game in the long run."

The Redhawks caught up to the Falcons (17-8, 10-5) in a hurry, tying the game just before halftime on a jumper by Abigail Kincaide 10-foot jumper. They took the lead for good with 4:37 to play in the fourth quarter on DeShazer's steal and layup that made the score 39-38, followed by a 3-pointer from freshman Gabi Melby.

Melby finished with a team-best 15 points, Lucy Schmid scored 14, Kincaide 10 and Lakstigala 7.

"Lucy did a really good job," Penn recruit Lakstigala said. "She was rebounding on offense and defense and Gabi made a lot of her shots. Everybody just stepped up."

"They're just a tough team, and they always put up a great fight," Swider added. "I respect them. They fight every single minute, every single second of the game. It's just how the cookie crumbles with it."

Wheaton North - which honored seniors Sophie Ahlberg, Maggie Bonga, Aymia Flowers, Maggie Kravchuk, Bree Miller, Megan Odell, Swider and Matti Zander before the game for their contributions to the program - got 12 points from Swider in addition to Topps' surprise scoring.

Glenbard West gangs up on Wheaton North

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.