Naperville Central claims much-needed win

Two boys basketball teams without many wins.

But they sure wanted this one.

Naperville Central emerged with Tuesday's hard-fought 48-43 nonconference victory over visiting Glenbard North after both sides overcame adversity to put themselves in position to win.

The Panthers (2-15) rallied twice to tie in the fourth quarter, but both times Naperville Central (5-13) managed to pull back ahead. Cam Dougherty and Neil Gupta each knocked down a pair of free throws in the final half minute to seal it for the Redhawks.

"We could have extended the lead to double digits but we just weren't able to do it," said Dougherty, who scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. "That's part of the learning process and building throughout the season. It's gotten better, which is all we can ask for. We're pulling out these close games and overcoming adversity during games."

Naperville Central held a 26-20 halftime lead and a 34-27 advantage late in the third quarter - both erased by the Panthers. Rory Hills' steal and basket at the start of the fourth quarter tied the game for the Panthers at 34-34, but the Redhawks answered with a Payton Thorne 3-pointer and a Dougherty bucket to go up 5 points with under six minutes to play.

The Redhawks - struggling through foul trouble to Dougherty, Thorne and fellow starter Patrick Zeng - nursed that lead for a couple minutes when Glenbard North suddenly tied it again at 39-39 on Jaheim Edmond's basket and a three-point play by Jordan McQuarter off a steal.

The Panthers, however, couldn't take advantage of other opportunities to surge ahead. They missed three free throws down the stretch including the front end of a 1-and-1.

Pile that on top of 12 first-half turnovers, and Glenbard North just wasn't clean enough.

"A lot of credit to the guys for fighting and staying with it," said Panthers coach Joe Larson. "We've just got to take care of the ball better, and free-throw shooting hurt us late. We're getting better but we're still not where we want to be, obviously. We've just got to stay the course and keep getting better."

Chris Conway had 12 points and Sam Jackson 7 points for Naperville Central. McQuarter led Glenbard North with 11 points while Sean Laherty had 8 points and Jerry Abushanab 7 points.

"I'm proud of our kids because if you look where we're at, they could easily throw in the towel," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "But they're playing harder now than they did before Christmas. And it's taken us this long to realize how hard we have to play to be successful."

Twitter: @kevin_schmit