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Naperville Central keeps DVC lead

Every time Naperville North scratched and clawed its way back Thursday night, the Naperville Central girls seemed to come up with game-changing basketball plays to knock the hosts back down a peg.

First the DuPage Valley Conference-leading Redhawks used a 5-point play at the end of the third quarter to open a 34-25 lead. Then in the fourth quarter after the Huskies had trimmed a 10-point deficit down to 41-39, a three-point play by Mia Lakstigala helped Naperville Central finish off Naperville North 47-42.

Late in the third quarter in what was a tight contest throughout, Erin Moran cut to the basket for a layup and was fouled. She missed the ensuing free throw, but Lucy Schmid grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to teammate Kaylee Cunningham, whose 3-point shot sent the visitors to the final quarter on top by 9.

"I don't know if I've ever, in 27 years, seen a 5-point play by two subs," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said. "Moran did a great job cutting to the basket and got a great pass from Mia. Lucy got the rebound and kicked it out and Kaylee did it again. The 5-point play was key, and Mia's basket at 41-39 was huge, huge."

Naperville Central's lead grew to 40-30 after a driving basket by Lakstigala with 5:17 left to play. The sophomore guard finished with a team-high 17 points.

The Huskies, however, closed the gap to 41-39 following a short jumper by CeCe Pope with 2:15 left to play, before Lakstigala's big three-point play helped the Redhawks reach the 20-win mark for the first time since 2013.

"When we were at 41-39 I was real proud of us," Huskies coach Jason Dycus said. "We showed some mental toughness there. We were down 10 and we showed some resiliency and came back. But to be honest with you, I'll tell you exactly what I just told the team. We turned the ball over too much, and we missed too many layups."

Laurel Pereira paced the Huskies with 17 points and Sophia Fumagalli and Pope each added 8, yet it was another tough setback for the 10-12 squad that is now 4-9 in the DVC.

"Our practices have been real spirited. The girls work hard and they're grinding it out and they're very coachable," Dycus said. "I love coaching them, but I feel bad for them because they deserve a payoff."

The Redhawks, who stayed atop the league with their second win over the Huskies, had plenty of contributions. Cunningham hit two big 3s, Schmid had 6 points and 9 rebounds, and Sara Teteak and Hannah Swarm each tallied 7 points.

"It's hard coming off the bench and just getting in the game, but I felt good," said Cunningham, who recorded her team's only 3-pointers on the night. "A lot of times I can just come in and be hot and it happened tonight. So it worked."

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