Naperville C. grabs key win from Glenbard W.
Two teams arrived at Naperville Central on Saturday night needing to turn the season's momentum in their favor. Both the host Redhawks and Glenbard West left feeling better about themselves.
The Redhawks also left with a 59-51 nonconference victory.
The Redhawks ended a four-game losing streak that included a tough DuPage Valley Conference defeat in the final minute Friday at WW South. Their next game is Friday night against second-ranked Glenbard East.
“We had to have this. This is a game we had to have. We felt last night we should have had a win,” Redhawks coach Pete Kramer said, adding he was proud of his players for bouncing back from Friday's loss.
“I felt we played with a great passion and energy for the game of basketball and I'm pleased with our effort,” added Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder, whose team suffered a lopsided West Suburban Silver loss to Lyons Twp. on Friday.
“I'm not pleased with the result, of course. I felt we played the game the way it was meant to be played tonight. It was exciting. It was fun to watch. That's the best we've communicated all year, and we played very hard. And when you do that you live with the result.”
The game started well for Glenbard West (1-6) when Matthew Mache and Egan Montgomery each hit a 3-pointer for a 6-0 lead, but Naperville Central (3-5) went on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. The Redhawks ran that lead into double digits just before halftime, and it peaked at 15 points on David Niggins' dunk with 1:04 left in the third quarter. But Niggins was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
“We had our chances to break it open, but every time we did we did something mentally silly,” Kramer said. “I thought Niggins' technical for hanging on the rim was critical, because that was a play where we had all the momentum and that killed the momentum.”
The Hilltoppers cut the margin to 6 points three times in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't get any closer, with Naperville Central senior guard Mike Schremp hitting 7 of 10 free throws in the final period. He finished with a game- and personal-high 20 points.
“I was stroking the ball tonight,” Schremp said. “It felt good coming off my hand. My free throws were a little off, but hey, I'll still take it.”
Niggins added 17 points for Naperville Central.
Montgomery scored 16 points for the Hilltoppers, who were without leading scorer Michael Mache, who rested a twisted ankle.
“He was aggressive, and we're going to have to be with Michael out,” Hoder said of Montgomery. “Guys are going to have to step up and we're going to have to be aggressive, for sure.”