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Lake Park in a good spot at midway point

At the midway point of the DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball season, Lake Park still controls its own destiny in search of a repeat championship.

If Saturday's first-half finale is any indication, it'll be an interesting second half.

The Lancers held off Naperville Central 51-47 in Roselle to stay in a tie with Naperville North atop the DVC standings.

Lake Park (13-4, 7-1) and the Huskies (14-3, 7-1) - who beat Wheaton Warrenville South at the buzzer in overtime on Saturday - meet on Feb. 5 in Roselle. Naperville North edged the Lancers 70-67 in the first round of DVC play.

"Knowing we're at the top, our coaches keep pushing us to win each game," said Lancers senior Bailey Vance. "Sometimes it might be close and it's going to be a dogfight. But we know we need to win it."

Naperville Central (11-7, 5-3), which trailed by as many as 10 points, surged to a 44-41 lead midway through the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run. Matthew Meier, who scored a game-high 22 points, converted a three-point play to put the Redhawks ahead 42-41 and Pedro Villanova added a pair of free throws.

Lake Park reclaimed the lead at 46-44 on a Dan Hynes 3-pointer, but Naperville Central's Nick Kramer tied it at 47 apiece with a bucket.

After Vance knocked down a pair of free throws give the Lancers a 49-47 advantage with 12.8 seconds left, Naperville Central missed a shot at the other end and the Lancers' Mitch Jarosinski grabbed the rebound. Kenny Bogus, who led Lake Park with 21 points, made another pair of free throws to seal the win.

"It was a hard-fought game," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "I thought the kids played hard and battled. All season, the games we've lost we've had chances. We've been in every game. It's just sometimes the shots don't want to drop."

Lake Park, already playing without injured point guard Garrett Fant, lost defensive stopper Diamante Smith to a first-quarter hip injury. The Lancers, however, still built a 29-19 first-half lead.

Vance scored 14 points for Lake Park while the Redhawks' Kramer countered with 11 points.

"Playing Naperville Central is always a challenge," said Lake Park coach Josh Virostko. "But we found a way. That's kind of been the case all year. We're just kind of hanging in there and finding a way. Hopefully we get healthy."

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