Naperville Central rolls past WW South
If you're looking for complete victories, Tuesday's performance by Naperville Central's boys basketball team is a good place to start.
Dominating in every phase for nearly every minute, the Redhawks rolled to a 44-26 DuPage Valley Conference win at Wheaton Warrenville South in a game that lasted about an hour.
Naperville Central (14-9, 8-5) controlled the action from the tip and surged to an 18-6 first-quarter lead behind a pair of 3-pointers apiece by Nick Kramer and James Kendrick. The Redhawks' zone defense proved especially stingy against WW South's perimeter game as the Tigers didn't reach double-figure scoring in any quarter.
The outcome stood in contrast to the first DVC meeting when the Tigers (15-10, 7-6) won 53-50 in Naperville.
"One thing we talked about is we just wanted to really control the pace of the game," said Redhawks senior Matthew Meier. "The first time we played them, we played at an up-tempo pace and that's how they got back in the game. We controlled possession and controlled the game."
Naperville Central managed only 7 second-quarter points, but it didn't matter. The Redhawks were content dictating a deliberate pace while defensively taking advantage of their height and long arms to thwart WW South's outside shooters.
The Tigers managed only 9 field goals - six from beyond the arc - while being outrebounded 16-6.
"We didn't have a whole lot of energy," said WW South coach Mike Healy. "They made shots but they didn't do anything we really didn't expect. We just didn't execute things."
Kramer and Kendrick got the Redhawks off to a strong start, but Meier was the game's most consistent offensive threat while scoring a game-high 17 points. Six-foot-seven sophomore Ben Wolf scored 10 points off the bench, including a pair of dunks.
Matt Dacy-Seijo hit a trio of 3-pointers while leading WW South with 11 points.
"It comes down to confidence," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "We've got a healthy team and we're playing with a lot of confidence now."
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