advertisement

Naperville Central returns favor to Waubonsie Valley

An improved defensive game helped the Naperville Central boys basketball team get the revenge it wanted when it prevailed 51-40 on Friday night over visiting Waubonsie Valley.

The Redhawks (18-6, 9-3 DuPage Valley Conference) had lost the first meeting between the teams in December.

"There was the revenge factor. We went over there and stunk the place out," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. The Redhawks went into the game having beaten Neuqua Valley by 3 on Jan. 26, but having lost at Metea Valley on Tuesday 69-48.

"Against Neuqua Valley we didn't finish hard at the end and that carried over to Metea Valley. It's a long season, but this was a great bounce back win against a much-improved team," Kramer said.

The Naperville Central defense was crucial in holding Waubonsie (11-14, 5-7) to just 8 first-half points.

"All week we focused on bringing energy up on defense. We have not been as energetic on defense as we are on offense," said senior Tyler O'Brien, who led the Redhawks with 15 points.

A pair of free throws by Daniel Raab with 1.9 seconds remaining until halftime gave the Redhawks a 20-8 lead.

Naperville Central kept rolling during the first two minutes of the second half with two baskets by Cameron Dougherty and one by Dillon Kane that pushed the Redhawks' lead to 26-11. Both Dougherty and Kane finished with 9 points each.

Then came Waubonsie's best play of the night. Starting with Marcus Skeete's basket, the Warriors proceeded on an 11-4 run to trail just 30-22 at the end of 24 minutes.

Skeete finished with a game-high 16 points. Caymen Woods, who contributed 10 points, scored 7 of the points during the scoring run.

"I think we were playing a little more aggressive in the third quarter. We were not aggressive in the first half," said Waubonsie coach Jason Mead. "We had very little mental awareness of the game at the beginning. Naperville Central imposed their will by playing hard and taking better shots."

The Redhawks got their lead back to double digits and kept it there in the fourth quarter thanks to a 16-of-21 free-throw shooting performance.

The victory was Naperville Central's fifth in its last six games.

"Our of goals is to get 20 wins and we needed this to get there," Dougherty said. The sophomore, one of three on the roster, said he has seen improvement in his game as the season has gone on.

"I think my shots have adjusted to the speed of the game a lot more. Coach trusts me a lot and that's huge," he said.

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.