Boys basketball: Naperville North knocks off Naperville Central
BY BLAKE BAUMGARTNER For Sun-Times Media February 16, 2013 10:18PM
Naperville North's Bryan LoLordo (center) celebrates with their fans after defeating Naperville Central in Naperville on Feb. 16. | Mike Mantucca ~ For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 16, 2013 10:20PM
It may be an overused cliché, but basketball is truly a game of runs.
For Naperville North on Saturday against crosstown rival Naperville Central, it was fortunate enough to be the team to pull off the last one.
Scoring 11 of the game’s last 17 points over the final 3:49, host Naperville North engineered a 52-48 victory over the Redhawks.
Tallying 10 of his game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to help his teammates stave off the Redhawks, Huskies senior forward Derek Westman stepped up big, along with teammate Jayson Winick, who finished with 14 points.
“We were lucky to stop them on defense, run out on the fast break, get some easy conversions and pull this game out,” Westman said.
A night after getting a road win at West Aurora for a second straight year, Naperville North (19-7, 9-4 DuPage Valley) responded by outscoring Naperville Central 44-30 in the game’s final three quarters.
While Westman and Winick, who combined to hit seven-of-eight free throws in the fourth quarter, scored 14 points each, junior guard Anthony Rehayem and freshman guard Jelani McClain added 11 and nine points, respectively.
“Well, I think what you’re seeing is you’re seeing a team that was young and inexperienced at the beginning of the year,” Naperville North coach Jeff Powers said. “They’re starting to believe in each other. They play so stinking hard.”
Trailing by eight after seeing the Huskies rattle off an 8-0 run to take a 41-33 lead early in the fourth, Naperville Central (16-9, 9-4) ran off a 9-0 surge of its own to take its last lead of the game at 42-41 with 3:49 left after a Mike Blaszczyk three-pointer.
But playing the entire second half without their starting point guard in junior Ryan Antony, who might have suffered a hip pointer, proved to be too much to overcome in some ways for the Redhawks.
“Our kids fought back. We were down eight and it wasn’t looking good,” Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said. “The kids fought back, hit some big shots. … Down the stretch, we missed some opportunities.”
The teams combined to hit 11 three-pointers in a first half that saw the Redhawks take a 28-24 lead into halftime.
The Redhawks ended the first quarter on a 13-3 run, highlighted by eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, from senior Rob Suntken.
The Huskies countered by opening the second quarter on a 16-5 run to take a 24-23 lead, a spurt that saw them connect on four three-pointers.
Getting nine first-half points from Rehayem, all coming on three-pointers, and five points from McClain allowed Naperville North to stay within striking distance in the game’s opening 16 minutes.
Junior center Nick Czarnowski led Naperville Central with his 13 points, while Suntken chipped in with 10.
