Thorne, Naperville Central surprise Waubonsie Valley
As a long time quarterback on the football field, Naperville Central's Payton Thorne is used to spotting an opening in the opposition's defense and exploiting it.
In Friday's DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball battle with visiting Waubonsie Valley, Thorne did just that on the hardwood, leading his Redhawks to a surprising 42-32 win over the Warriors. In a low-scoring first half Thorne knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as Naperville Central led 17-12 at halftime.
The 6-foot-2 senior then banked in a 3 in the third quarter and came up big in a fourth quarter that included his fourth 3 of the night followed by a pair of driving layups that carried him to a game-high 16 points and lifted the home team its ninth win of the season.
The Michigan State-bound quarterback has had to work a little harder to score on the court compared to seasons past. But after his long-range shot dropped through to put the Redhawks ahead 14-8 with three minutes left in the half, he had a feeling this might just be a good night.
"After I hit my second one…that second shot felt the best of all of my shots this year to be honest. Then the third one I got a little lucky," Thorne said, referring to a 3-point bank shot that put Naperville Central ahead 22-16 in the third quarter. "But we just played well as a team. Chris (Conway) got it going inside and we were able to open things up because they were pinching down on him."
The 6-foot-9 Conway took advantage of a big height edge on the visitors and finished with 10 points and 2 blocked shots.
But it wasn't just the big guy causing problems for the Warriors inside. Thorne helped seal the win with a pair of darts to the rim in the fourth quarter, and his team avenged a December loss to the 23-4 Warriors. They saw their hopes to chase down Naperville North for the DVC crown dashed with Friday's loss.
"Finally hitting some 3s tonight helps," Thorne said. "It felt like what I used to be able to do a couple years ago. When you can knock a couple down it extends the defense. Then you can get a shot fake and get around a guy…I think really for a guy like me getting the shot going (is key). Then you can get a shot fake and get it to the rack."
It was a frustrating night for the Warriors, who missed 8 of 9 shots in the first quarter and trailed 6-2. Eleven first-half turnovers and an injury to guard Eric Cannon in the second quarter didn't help matters. But even so, the Warriors trailed just 28-25 after three quarters and had gotten to within 24-22 on a layup by Derrien Porter before a technical foul led to a pair of free throws by Cam Dougherty that helped make sure the Redhawks never trailed.
"We weren't very aggressive on offense. We took a bunch of trimming-the-edges 3-pointers and none of them went down today," Warriors coach Jason Mead said.
Marcus Skeete led his team with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but he was the lone Warrior to score in double figures.