Naperville Central 62, Glenbard North 25

Here's how well things went for the Naperville Central boys basketball team on Friday night: Dave Mallett came off the bench to hit all 5 of his shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and score 13 points in a less-than-three-minute span of the second quarter.

Conversely, here's how bad things were for visiting Glenbard North: The Panthers didn't eclipse Mallett's point total, as a team, until seven minutes, 23 seconds remained in the game.

The result was a 63-25 DuPage Valley Conference triumph for the Redhawks that kept them atop the league at 9-2 with three games to play. The difference was the middle two quarters as Naperville Central (17-6 overall) outscored Glenbard North (4-17, 3-7) by a 44-6 margin in a tour de force that saw them put the first 22 points on the board in the second period, including Mallett's 13.

"We were patient against their zone and we put Dave Mallett in the game and that's what he does, he shoots the ball, and the kids did a great job finding him," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer.

The first quarter gave no indication of things to come as Glenbard North's zone forced the Redhawks into 4-of-12 shooting, keeping the Panthers within 10-6 after eight minutes. Then the roof caved in.

"We have to score," said Glenbard North coach Erin Dwyer. "They obviously went on a run, but we didn't score and then they'd run out and we weren't getting back on defense. We've gone through stretches all season where we've scored two or four points over five minutes and it's tough to win that way, especially against a team that's playing that well."

The Redhawks outscored the Panthers 26-4 in the second quarter and then added an 18-2 edge in the third to take a 54-12 lead. The offensive attack was balanced with Matt Neufeld, Drew Crawford, Harrison Daniels and Matt Jones all scoring between 5 and 10 points, but Kramer pointed to the other end of the floor as the main reason for the lopsided result.

"I thought our defense was outstanding tonight," he said. "As a team we had a lot of pressure on the ball, we were in the passing lanes, that got us going. To give up only 12 points after three quarters, that's something you dream about."

The Panthers made just 2 of 20 shots over the middle quarters with Marko Govedarica and Ryan Gasiriowski leading the way with 4 points. Dwyer did see a bright spot in the final frame as Eddie Deane maneuvered inside for 3 baskets off designed plays.

"He getting better and better every time he plays the game," Dwyer said of the 6-foot-6 junior.