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Hinton, Zilys lead furious Naperville Central rally to beat Naperville North

Big-time players step up in big-time situations.

Naperville Central had two of that description Friday night.

Facing a hostile environment at Naperville North and a Huskies team that seemingly couldn't miss a shot in the first three quarters, the Redhawks looked like they would need a miracle in the fourth quarter to prevail.

They found one, thanks to the efforts of two guards - senior Jonah Hinton and junior Mantas Zilys, who together engineered a 25-7 run to end the game and steal a 71-61 victory.

"I definitely think the crowd, the adversity, I think that really woke us up," said Hinton, who finished with 22 points and hit two NBA-length 3-point shots that sandwiched a Zilys layup early in that big fourth quarter that kicked off the big run.

"We never got down on each other when we were down," he said. "We always just stayed in composure and came back. We talked as a team and got it together."

Zilys equaled Hinton's 22 points - 9 in the fourth quarter - highlighted by a layup in the lane and a foul with 2:06 to go. Add the free throw and suddenly, the Redhawks (18-6, 7-2) had turned a 52-46 deficit at the end of the third quarter to a 63-55 lead.

They never looked back.

"They hit us hard at first," said Hinton, who celebrated his commitment this week to Northwest Missouri State. "(But) we swept them. It's a blessing."

While it might seem like Naperville Central's offense exceeded expectations in the fourth quarter, its tough-as-nails man defense locked down on the Huskies, allowing just four field goals in the fourth quarter.

"There is a reason they say defense wins games," Zilys said, "because 25-7, we were all supporting and playing as a team."

Naperville North (12-14, 3-5) put together an 11-2 run in the middle of the third quarter to go up 50-39, and it looked like the Huskies might have enough in the tank to get the Redhawks back for a 50-32 loss in December.

They fashioned that run by way of three-ball, nailing a trifecta of them, two from sophomore Luke Williams and the other from another sophomore, Bryce Welch.

"It was a great high school basketball game," said Naperville North coach Gene Nolan. "We were able to hit some shots early and just the fourth quarter became we weren't able to make shots, so now they're not having to take the ball out of bounds. They're playing a transition game and they are getting numbers in transition.

"I'm proud of our kids, because we battled and have gotten so much better."

Senior Zeke Williams paced the Huskies with 21 points, including 13 in that big first half. He also paced everyone on the floor with 7 rebounds. His brother, Luke, scored 16, while Welch had 13 off the bench.

"The basket was huge for them," Zeke Williams said. "They hit shots and we didn't. That's about how it went in the fourth quarter."

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