advertisement

Naperville Central goes long distance to top BG

When Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer looked ahead to the upcoming season, he had a suspicion that having seven players on the roster 6-foot-4 or taller might open up longball opportunities for his squad.

Friday night, it not only bore fruit but a holiday tourney crown as well.

Thanks to a 25-4 second-quarter outburst that featured a perfect 5-for-5 beyond the 3-point line, the Redhawks tripled their way past tournament host Buffalo Grove 64-42.

Coupled with Wednesday's win over Zion-Benton (2-1), Naperville Central captured the Bison Thanksgiving Tournament with head-to-head wins over both teams as it wrapped up its tourney schedule. The Redhawks have a tourney bye Saturday prior to commencing DuPage Valley Conference play at Glenbard North next Friday in Carol Stream.

"I really like the fact that we're starting to become such an unselfish team and how it showed tonight, especially in that second quarter," Kramer said.

It began when 5-foot-11 senior Tyler O'Brien (22 points) hits the first of his four 3s 84 seconds into the second quarter.

After Northern Michigan-bound 6-foot-8 Ben Wolf connected on a pair of foul shots at the 5:24 mark, O'Brien sank his second 3-pointer 29 seconds later.

That gave the Redhawks their first double-digit lead at 20-9 and capped a 10-0 run.

Following a scoop and score from Bison senior guard Caleb Mayhorn that pulled the hosts within 20-11, O'Brien's third and fourth 3-pointers aided a 17-2 tear over the final 4:31 that left Central up 37-13 at the break.

"Tyler is such a heady player who can score," Kramer said. "But at the same time he's able to see the value of getting the ball into our big guy inside."

"It helps having this 6-8 freak around to get the ball into," a jovial O'Brien said as he stood next to the third-year letterman.

"With having to practice with our big guys (Wolf, 6-8 sophomore Chris Conway, 6-7 senior Kurt Kozartis, 6-6 senior Kevin Maloney and 6-6 Cameron Dougherty) every day at practice, you get the chance to learn how open up the inside game which gives you a better chance come gametime to make things happen."

Wolf led all scorers with 23 points and 9 rebounds. He sees his team's overall depth as a huge reason for their early success.

"As a result, you have a lot more weapons to work with," he said. "You have more opportunities to work on game situations which helps to make you a better team."

Buffalo Grove (2-1) made one final charge by going on 10-4 run that pulled them within 11 (49-38) on a 3 by Jack Vaselaney with 6:02 remaining.

The Redhawks closed out the evening by outscoring the hosts 15-4, thanks in part to a 6-for-7 performance by O'Brien at the foul line.

Senior Mac Camardo led the Bison with 13 points followed junior Tom Trieb (12).

BG will face the Zee-Bees for second place Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

"We had some good looks in the first quarter that we knocked down, but in the second quarter those same looks we had wouldn't go down for us," said Bison coach Keith Peterson. "I thought that our defensive intensity was a little bit down, and when a team like Naperville Central executes as well as they did, you're going to be in trouble."

Still, Peterson did appreciate his team's fight in the second half.

"We showed a lot of character in coming back," he said. "This is a really good tournament where you're playing the equivalent of four conference games with four teams that are pretty near equal in terms of skill and talent."

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.