Naperville Central breaks loose against Waubonsie Valley
Facing a defense that was designed to stop her last Saturday, Mia Lakstigala was held to one field goal in an overtime win over Neuqua Valley.
Thursday night was a different story.
Opening the scoring in Naperville Central's DuPage Valley Conference matchup against Waubonsie Valley with a long 3-pointer, the Redhawks' senior went on to post a game-high 22 points in a 61-51 victory in Aurora.
Lakstigala added 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block in only three quarters of action.
"Overall I thought we did a good job of working together," Lakstigala said. "Our main goals before the game were to push it in transition and get rebounds on defense and we did a good job of that. And then we made sure that everyone got an open shot."
The difference in the contest turned out to be the start, with the visitors building an early 21-6 advantage.
Freshman Gaby Melby had 7 points in that spurt and finished with 14.
"We wanted to get off to a good start," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said, "and we wanted to attack a little bit. We knew that they like to run and that is something we like to do too. That's the kind of game we like to play."
The Warriors did get themselves back into the game, closing out the first quarter on a 5-0 run and then pulling within 23-20 in the second. But the home team went scoreless the rest of the half and trailed 35-20 at halftime. That margin was extended to 56-33 at the end of three quarters before Waubonsie Valley outscored the Redhawks 18-5 over the final eight minutes.
"It was just the start and then a couple of spots in between," Waubonsie Valley coach Brett Love said. "We have to find out who we are as a team, that is something we are still working through. Against Neuqua Valley (a 2-point Warriors win Tuesday), we were the team that put together four quarters. And when we came back tonight and cut it to 3, that's the team we want to see.
"We want to be a team that can compete on any given night with anybody."
Lauren McKnight led the Warriors (4-5, 2-2) with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Grace Setter had 9 points and 9 rebounds, Ahniya Melton chipped in with 8 points and 9 rebounds and Gina Palasz scored 8.
Maiah DeShazer totaled 8 points and 4 steals for Naperville Central and Abigail Kincaide had 8 points and 6 rebounds. The Redhawks improved to 7-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the DVC with a matchup looming against Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday.
"We took our one loss (a 70-63 overtime defeat to Benet on Nov. 25) pretty hard," Lakstigala said. "We made team goals after that and one was to work harder in practice. That has transitioned into the games, especially on defense."