Naperville Central rally runs out of steam

In the end the Lyons Twp. lead proved just barely too big for Naperville Central to overcome.

The Redhawks fell 13-11 at the state boys water polo quarterfinals Friday at Stevenson High School despite a hot start to the fourth period.

"We were just trying to play our game," Redhawks junior Nick Walker said. "In the first half we kind of let them control the pace, and that wasn't what our goal was coming in. ... In the fourth quarter it all clicked. We were making shots and playing team defense, but we just didn't have enough steam at the end."

Lyons Twp. (30-4) built an 11-6 lead midway through the third quarter, which Walker trimmed to 11-7 with the final goal of the period.

"We did not play four solid quarters," Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine said. "Taking nothing away from Lyons. They played a great game. That third quarter certainly hurt us a little bit."

Walker started the fourth period the same way, scoring two more goals. Lyons Twp.'s George Lundgren interrupted with a goal of his own, but Walker and Kyle Jackson struck back to cut the Redhawks' deficit to one goal with 3:50 to play.

"I just kind of went all out and went for it," said Walker, who finished with 6 goals for the game and 113 for the season. Jackson scored four to total 92.

But that was when Naperville Central (29-3) ran out of steam. The Redhawks never scored again, ending their first trip to the quarterfinals since 2011.

"It was just nice to get back here to state," Walker said. "It was my first time. ... It was a tradition for a while for Central, and it was nice to get back the tradition. It wasn't necessarily the outcome we wanted, but it was nice to get back here. It was good experience because our team is very young."

Only Christian May, Tyler Ciliak and Michael Joza graduate from the Redhawks' roster.

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