Glenbard North defeats Naperville Central
As Glenbard North’s Brandon Clark tumbled into the far end of Naperville Central’s bench, he knocked over a water cooler and received a cold, drenching shower.
It turned out to be the perfect shock to the system.
Clark scored 6 points midway through the fourth quarter to give Glenbard North the lead for good in Wednesday’s 57-53 DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball victory over the visiting Redhawks.
“I was drenched, but it felt good,” said Clark, who finished with 8 points. “It’s a huge win, especially going into the regional playoffs.”
Clark’s unexpected bath came in the third quarter, and he was so soaked that he actually had to leave the gym for several minutes. He returned later in the quarter — much drier and with a new uniform.
Naperville Central (12-14, 5-9), trailing 33-26 after a 3-pointer by the Panthers’ Mark Ng, staged a third-quarter rally. The Redhawks used an 11-3 run to carry a 37-36 lead to the fourth quarter on a pair of David Niggins free throws.
The Redhawks’ advantage grew to 43-39 on Mike Schremp’s putback, but that’s when the Panthers (10-15, 5-9) made a move behind a 3-pointer by Josh Fleming, who scored a team-high 16 points, and buckets by Sean Fogarty and Alex Smith.
With Glenbard North leading 46-44, Clark scored on a tip-in, a baseline layup and a pair of free throws — separated by a Niggins basket — to put the Panthers ahead 52-48.
“When we got it to four there, I thought that was big,” said Glenbard North coach Joe Larson. “In a game like that you’ve got to make plays. The guys were out there, and who’s going to make a play? I thought Brandon was the key there making some plays.”
Naperville Central responded. The deficit grew to 6 points with just under a minute left, but Bryce Kirk sliced it in half with a 3-pointer.
Nick Czarnowski’s free throw cut it further to 55-53 with 37.8 seconds left, and the Redhawks got the ball back on Kevin Linne’s steal. A crucial Redhawks turnover, their second in the waning seconds, returned the ball to Glenbard North. Two Fleming free throws sealed the win.
Niggins scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half while Schremp added 9 points. Anthony Keener, who scored 12 points, led the Panthers’ 16-of-21 free-throw effort by knocking down all six of his attempts from the line.
“Credit them, they made the plays when they had to,” said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. “We had our opportunities and we didn’t finish them. We threw the ball away a couple of times, we missed a layup here and there. It was just a sloppy game by us, I thought.”