Redhawks make all the noise against Huskies
The crowd was big and the band was loud, but this would not be yet another special cross-town battle between Naperville North and Naperville Central.
Because on this night the visiting Redhawks girls basketball team was at the top of its game and there was nothing the Huskies could do to slow them down. Naperville Central (8-7, 3-1) jumped ahead 22-6 after one quarter powered by a pressure defense and some hot shooting and never looked back on its way to a 73-40 DuPage Valley Conference win.
The Redhawks jumped ahead big right out of the gates thanks to 9 Huskies turnovers in the opening quarter and 8 points from Naperville Central guard Emma Ondik, who sank two of her three 3-pointers while tallying 8 points in the first quarter. Fellow Redhawks guard Kelley Hendrick picked up two first-quarter fouls, but that didn't stop her from scoring 15 points in the first half and finishing the night with a game-high 26 points to go along with 4 steals.
"We've been working on our defense and we knew we had to stick with our intensity," said Hendrick, who connected for two of her team's eight 3-pointers in the game. "We've been losing (games) by a little bit so we need to come out strong and keep with the intensity."
Naperville North (2-12, 1-3) rattled off the first 7 points of the second quarter after Kaelyn Witkowski opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and Haley Krentz and Tracy Smith followed with baskets to cut the gap top 22-13. But Hendrick answered with a putback and Ondik sank her third 3, and the Redhawks were back on track and off and running.
"We just talked before the game about playing as well as we can," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said. "We have not always started games well, and tonight we wanted to put some pressure on them and play high-energy.
"Our execution was probably as good as it's been all year," he added. "I'd like it to be a habit."
Huskies coach Jacquie Discipio felt her players had made strides with protecting the ball, but it didn't show Thursday against their cross-town rivals.
"The turnovers were extremely disappointing," Discipio said after her team had 16 giveaways while falling behind 39-16 at the half. "We've been taking steps forward, but the first half was a big step back."
Naperville North got big efforts out of Krentz and Smith, who combined for 22 rebounds, but it was far from enough on this night. Krentz finished with 12 points and 13 boards, but her 6-point, 6-rebound third quarter couldn't prevent the Redhawks from increasing their lead to 60-27 after three quarters.
"We had a big crowd and the band was here, but we did not look like ourselves tonight," Discipio added. "It's frustrating. I felt like we had a good week of practice - now we told the girls to shake this one of and get ready for Saturday."