Naperville Central goes deep vs. Fenton

Naperville Central guard Dave Mallett and his teammates were ready for whatever defense Fenton was going to throw at them.

When the Bison came out with a 1-2-2 zone in Wednesday's Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament game, the Redhawks attacked it with crisp passing around the perimeter and dishes back to open shooters on the outside after drawing defenders on drives to the hoop.

Mallett was the primary beneficiary in the first quarter, sinking four 3-pointers to push Naperville Central out to a commanding early lead. And he is just one of the numerous offensive weapons who got rolling for the Redhawks as they cruised to a 66-36 victory over host Fenton in Bensenville.

With the triumph undefeated Naperville Central (3-0) advances to the tournament championship game against South Elgin at 7:15 p.m. Friday and looks to make it two tournament titles in a row. The Storm will have its hands full defending a Redhawks team that sank 12 of the 23 3-pointers it attempted against the Bison, a 52.2 percent shooting success rate.

"We have some kids who can shoot the ball," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "I haven't had a team with as many good shooters as this team since I have been coach."

"Driving and kicking is what we wanted to do," Mallett said. "My teammates got me some good looks, and I got some big shots."

Redhawks senior forward Drew Crawford led all scorers with 24 points, including 4 treys of his own. Mallett finished with 12 points and guard Nick Linne drilled 3 long-range shots for 9 points.

Fenton (0-3) got a nice performance from senior guard Paris Jones, who slashed his way to the basket for a team-high 12 points. Forward Dan Montano and guard Justin Southward chipped in 7 and 6 points, respectively. One of Southward's buckets late in the game came on a sweet play when center Cody Meyer got an offensive rebound, throw a behind the back pass to Southward on the baseline, and he finished in heavy traffic near the hoop.

But while the Bison were making field goals here and there to try to keep things close, Naperville Central demoralized any comeback efforts by making a flurry of downtown bombs. Thanks to Mallett's hot hand, the Redhawks led 23-9 after the first quarter. They extended the lead to 37-15 at halftime.

"We have good shooters and execute to get the open shots," Crawford said.

Fenton coach Dennis Cromer felt that Naperville Central's size on the perimeter made it hard for his smaller team to defend against. Crawford is 6-foot-5. Mallett is 6-2 and Linne is 6-1.

"That was pretty impressive - particularly when you look where they were shooting from," Cromer said of the Redhawks' shooting prowess.