Despite 16 turnovers, Central tops Wheaton North

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Updated: March 4, 2012 8:10AM

Normally, committing 16 turnovers and shooting 56 percent from the foul line would be a recipe for disaster.

Naperville Central nevertheless pulled out a 52-43 DuPage Valley Conference road win Thursday over Wheaton North.

“It wasn’t a work of art but it sure beats the alternative,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said with a chuckle.

Wheaton North (12-14, 5-7) probably was not in such a jovial mood after its loss. The Falcons turned the ball over 18 times but outrebounded the Redhawks 31-22 to keep the game competitive throughout most of the night.

Naperville Central (17-8, 11-1) shot 14-for-25 from the free-throw line, enabling Wheaton North to stay in the game and make several runs after it appeared the Redhawks were on the verge of pulling away.

Junior forward Victoria Trowbridge (15 points, nine rebounds) and senior center Emma Donahue (13 points, five rebounds) led the way. Fellow starters Jill D’Amico (nine points), Shannon Ryan (six points) and Jamie Cuny (four points, six rebounds) all contributed in the win.

Trowbridge scored 11 in the second half and Donahue totaled nine over the final 16 minutes.

“I think, one of the things that we’ve had here in our run since Christmas — we’re 9-1 — (is that) Victoria Trowbridge is a lot more active offensively,” Nussbaum said, noting that defenders have to focus much of their attention on Donahue.

The presence of the 6-foot-6 Donahue and 6-footers Trowbridge and Cuny caused trouble for the Falcons. When those three weren’t blocking shots, they were causing the Falcons to alter their shots.

Wheaton North tied the game at 23-all on a play in which Trowbridge was poked in the eye and then stripped of the ball. The sequence ended with Falcon Reily Stewart (nine points) completing a three-point play.

Not to be deterred, the Redhawks came right back. Donahue gave Naperville Central the lead again at 25-23 after taking a pass from D’Amico and a technical foul on Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton led to Donahue hitting two free throws.

Redhawks reserve Laura Dierking (five points) converted her own three-point play for a 30-23 lead and Ryan followed with a three for a 33-25 lead. Two Trowbridge free throws stretched the gap to 35-25.

Wheaton North would cut the deficit to 37-33 on two Stewart foul shots but another Naperville Central surge was too much for the home team to overcome.

“After they got on a run, we just reminded ourselves that we could calm down, that we were in control of the game and that this is our game to take,” Trowbridge said. “And we knew that they weren’t going to hand it to us, so we just had to go for it, execute and keep our head level.”

She credited all of the starters and also the bench for their reliability this season.

“It’s just awesome how we can rely on each other and if someone’s not having a good day, we’ll make up for it with someone else.”

Maddie Baillie scored eight for the Falcons and Brittany Norris had six off the bench. Chrissy Baird led Wheaton North with nine rebounds to go with four points and Jaquala Hillman pulled down seven rebounds while scoring four points.

“I thought our second group played really well,” Eaton said. “Brittany Norris came in and hit a couple key shots. Emari Jones (played well). We told them that their goal was just to keep it close and they actually were the ones that were chipping away at the lead all the time, so I was really impressed with our second group. Our kids kept fighting the whole game and they never gave up.”