Eventually, Naperville Central gets the message

Naperville Central girls basketball coach Andy Nussbaum is beginning to believe his speeches aren't having any impact.

"I don't know what it is, but obviously I'm going to have to change my halftime strategy," Nussbaum said.

After scoring 2 points on Thursday night in the third quarter, Naperville Central saw a halftime lead turn into an 11-point deficit in the third quarter Saturday against Lake Park.

But Redhawks senior Abigail Kincaide doesn't think it's Nussbaum's speeches. It's just mental.

"It's almost something that goes through all of our heads," Kincaide said. "(Nussbaum) knows that we're tired, but we have to push through it. He helps us get our mentality up."

And by the fourth quarter, Naperville Central got its mojo back. The Redhawks went on an 18-2 run en route to a 61-54 DuPage Valley Conference win over the Lancers to remain undefeated in the conference.

"We talked about it at halftime," Nussbaum said. "I'm like 'We can't have a (third) quarter like (Thursday).' They had the first (12) points of the quarter before people were back in their seats."

Thet spurt was the continuation of a run that the Lancers started in the second quarter.

With the Lancers trailing 18-11, the Lake Park bench was issued a technical foul. Naperville Central's Kate Gilfillan split the free throws, but Mia Lakstigala was fouled while getting the rebound and made her free throws to make it a 21-11 game.

Then the Lancers' offense sprung to life. Lake Park (11-6, 4-3) closed the quarter on a 12-3 run and went into halftime trailing by 1.

"We told ourselves that we had to work harder," Lake Park's Kinsey Tweedy said. "(The technical) doesn't have to stop us."

The Lancers scored the first 12 points of the second half and took a 35-24 lead.

"For us it was just settling into our offense and making sure we were playing together," Lake Park coach Brian Rupp said. "We didn't come out with anything different. It was just kind of riding the wave of the second quarter and really settling into what we were trying to do on offense."

Naperville Central (17-4, 7-0) didn't panic. They chipped away at the deficit and trailed 45-40 after the third quarter.

"We know we need to keep our momentum up and moving," Kincaide said. "In the third quarter, we got gassed."

And Nussbaum's pep talk between the third and fourth quarter stuck with the Redhawks a lot better than his halftime speech.

"I think it really gets us going," Lakstigala said.

After a runner by Lake Park's Darrione Rogers, Naperville Central scored 18 of the next 20 points.

"I think it doesn't really click until the fourth quarter," Lakstigala said. "At least we get it going in the fourth quarter."