Naperville Central up to the task in season-opening win

This year's Naperville Central players are well aware that their lineup is not filled with giants, but that's not to say they aren't expecting a big season.

Naperville Central opened its new girls basketball season with a 63-32 defeat of Marian Central Catholic on the first night of the Tip-Off Tournament in Naperville. The Redhawks, without a single 6-footer on the roster, played mighty big in their season opener. Six players connected on 3-pointers and a relentless defense sparked a 20-0 run in the first quarter.

"I think one of the factors that helped us come out with so much energy is that we have so many seniors on the team and this is their last first home game," junior guard Gabi Melby said. "We just played with so much heart. We all jelled together and connected."

The Crusaders opened the game with a basket when 6-footer Janelle Allen scored on a putback. But the hosts then went on that 20-0 streak and never looked back. Melby and sophomore Aditi Prasad each dropped in 3s during the run, but the Redhawks' defense led the way by forcing turnover after turnover.

"Oh yeah, defense is a huge factor," said Melby, who led a balanced attack with 15 points. "Especially Lauren Umbright and Kate Gilfillan. Being in the post down in a 2-3 is not easy and they really handled that well. Especially against (Allen). They definitely set the tone for us on defense and that affected us on offense. We got running. We're fast."

On this night the Redhawks were too fast for the Hurricanes to handle, as 11 first-quarter turnovers saw the visitors fall behind 20-4 after one quarter. The deficit grew to 39-12 at the half, which saw Melby and Umbright combine for 18 points, or 6 more than the opposing team could muster.

"We have a lot of experience. Every one of these starting top eight, they all played significantly last year so there was not first-game jitters necessarily because everyone knows they've been here before," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. "Of those top eight players five of them are seniors and they know we want to make something special here."

Prasad, who sank a trio of 3s to finish with 11 points, said the team has worked hard on areas that don't require a tall roster. In other words, these Redhawks know they may face bigger lineups most nights, but they're ready to take on tall tasks that come their way.

"It was fun," she said after the opener. "We practice that (shooting) a lot. We worked on it really hard and I think it showed tonight. We also worked very hard on our defense and that also showed tonight. We're not (tall) but we focus on other things and we make our other abilities stronger. We always come out strong and with a lot of energy."

The Redhawks, who will resume Tip-Off tourney play Saturday afternoon against Bartlett, had five players tally at least 7 points while two others scored 5. Their defense, meanwhile, allowed just four Marian Central players to score. Allen did pace the Hurricanes with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

"Relentless was what we were looking for,"" Nussbaum said. "That was the last thing we said coming out was we wanted to be relentless."