Aurora Central tops Naperville N. in OT

Mike Adams, the ball in his hands in the lane, 25 seconds left in overtime.

Aurora Central coach Nate Drye didn't draw it up that way, but that's what happened.

Adams' third-chance basket gave the Chargers a 57-56 overtime win over Naperville North at the 25th annual Waubonsie Valley Christmas Classic on Saturday in Aurora.

Drye called timeout with 55 seconds left in overtime, his team trailing 56-55. Anthony Kelley missed a 3-point shot, Chargers guard Steve Hollon tried to put it back in, but Adams grabbed another offensive rebound and scored with 25 seconds left.

Naperville North missed a 3-point try and also a last-second jumper, and Aurora Central (13-1) earned third place for a second straight season despite beating titlist Waubonsie on Friday.

"We felt that we should have won that first game (against Oswego East), we didn't really come to play," said Adams, who scored 14 points with 9 rebounds and also assisted on the Chargers' first overtime basket, an alley-oop to Kelley for a two-handed dunk. Kelley scored 17 points.

"But it's nice winning this game, especially beating two good schools. It shows we can compete with anyone."

Naperville North (6-7) lost a 26-20 halftime lead as tourney MVP Kelley and 6-foot-6 Nick Czaja got rolling and foul trouble limited the Huskies' two big men, 6-6 Joe McNicholas and 6-9 Matt Hasse.

In the fourth quarter, though, McNicholas scored 7 of his 16 points and Hasse 10 of his 20 to put Naperville North in position. Rallying from a 51-47 deficit with 35 seconds left in regulation, the Huskies forced overtime on Danny Grimley's 3-pointer with nine seconds left.

In overtime Hasse's inside basket at 2:17 gave the Huskies their last lead of the game, 56-54. Hollon's free throw with 1:07 left temporarily cut Naperville North's lead to a point.

"I thought we did a good job getting the ball in the middle of their defense," said Naperville North coach Mark Lindo. "I thought we played pretty well defensively, but they made the last play. That's the bottom line."

At Aurora Central the bottom line often comes down to an Adams - last year's Waubonsie MVP Mark or Mike, coming up big down low.

"I don't know how he got the ball because there were two guys around him and he just went up and got the ball and put it in," Drye said. "Just a phenomenal play by him, just phenomenal."