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Schmid basket in final seconds lifts Naperville Central past WW South

Lucy Schmid made sure Naperville Central would have something to celebrate Tuesday night, no overtime required.

The freshman forward scored off a Mia Lakstigala pass with five seconds to play to lift Naperville Central to a 42-40 girls basketball victory at Wheaton Warrenville South. But the Redhawks celebrated more than just their ninth consecutive victory.

With the win the Redhawks clinched a share of the DuPage Valley Conference championship, their 15th title in the last 26 years.

"It's awesome, especially my senior year," Redhawks forward Katie McBain said. "This team, we work so well together and we just love every second of the season."

Naperville Central (22-7, 13-2) can clinch the DVC title outright with a Neuqua Valley (12-3) loss Thursday at Glenbard North or a Redhawks win at home Friday night against Lake Park, the last team to beat Naperville Central, on Jan. 9.

Wheaton Warrenville South (16-9, 10-5) never led, but the Tigers made sure the Redhawks didn't run away and hide either.

Naperville Central got out to a 9-point first-quarter lead only to see Tigers freshman Mackenzie Stebbins tie the game at 16 with a three-point play to start the second. The Redhawks then reeled off the next 10 points to pull away again, but then Tigers freshman Mira Emma hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 7 at halftime, and it never reached double digits again.

"Even with tonight senior night and everything going on, the kids did just an incredible job of battling the entire game," Tigers coach Rob Kroehnke said of his players. "There had to be five or six times in the game where (I thought), all right, there we go, it's going to be (a 20-point margin) in a matter of seconds. And they just kept coming back. It was amazing.

"(The Redhawks) are conference champs. Give them credit. They're a really good team, and our kids did a great job and played with them."

Sara Teteak gave the Redhawks a 5-point lead with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but Emma hit another 3 from the top of the key with 39 seconds left. Sophomore Jayla Johnson tied it with 16 seconds left by hitting a pair of free throws.

"That was close at the end," McBain said. "At the end our shots weren't falling, so we were just playing good defense and trying to keep them from scoring."

The Redhawks didn't take a timeout, charging downcourt with Lakstigala finding Schmid open on the right low post.

"We knew we could do it," the 6-foot-2 Schmid said. "We have really good teamwork. If it came down to that we knew we could find the right person, and I was the one that was open. That worked out well."

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

  Maya Keating of Wheaton Warrenville South,left, and Lucy Schmid of Naperville Central vie for a loose ball during game action Tuesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Jayla Johnson of Wheaton Warrenville takes one to the net during game action Tuesday night. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Katie McBain of Naperville Central takes a shot as Jayla Johnson of Wheaton Warrenville South attempts to block during game action Tuesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
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