O'Toole, WW South overcome Naperville Central

It officially became boys basketball season for Reilly O'Toole on Friday.

The Wheaton Warrenville South senior guard knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute to lead the Tigers to a 44-42 DuPage Valley Conference win over visiting Naperville Central.

In just his second game since quarterbacking the Tigers to the Class 7A football title, O'Toole scored a game-high 20 points to help WW South (3-3, 1-1) break a two-game slide. While much of his game is still rounding into shape, the 6-foot-3 veteran definitely has his full competitiveness.

“I'm closer with my endurance than I am with getting my shot back,” O'Toole said. “This gives us a little confidence. I think we played pretty well as a team.”

Both sides watched opportunities to seal the game slip away in the final minutes. WW South led 32-21 midway through the third quarter, but Naperville Central (2-5, 0-2) rallied to take a 42-39 lead on a pair of Mike Schremp free throws with 1:09 left.

While David Niggins scored 8 of his team-high 19 points to spearhead the Redhawks' rally, Bryce Kirk knocked down a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers to key the comeback.

“It's a team trying to grow up fast, and I think we've made a lot of improvement,” said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. “I thought we battled, but it's a tough loss. It's all about finishing games. We have to learn how to finish games.”

After O'Toole's free throw narrowed the gap to 42-40 with 59 seconds left, he got a steal that eventually led to his 3-pointer and a 43-42 lead with 47 seconds left.

A Naperville Central miss led to a free throw by WW South's Kevin Bridges, who tallied 13 points. The Redhawks had a chance to tie, but a turnover went to the Tigers' Nate Fuster on the sideline.

WW South won despite some sluggish offensive play. The Tigers trailed 9-1 after a quarter when they were held scoreless for the opening 6:15 of the game, and then were held scoreless for 6:24 as the Redhawks rallied from the third-quarter deficit.

In welcoming back football players Jason Schuman and Caleb Bednarz for their first game on Friday, the Tigers are getting closer to building a cohesive lineup.

“We didn't play real smart at the end of the game,” said Tigers coach Mike Healy. “We didn't seem to have much flow, but I think we're getting there.”