Redhawks answer Tigers' challenge
Drifting between dominant and dormant, Naperville Central's boys basketball team kept its collective cool.
The Redhawks capped a stellar weekend in the DuPage Valley Conference, notching their 11th straight win with Saturday's 54-46 victory at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Naperville Central (14-1, 5-0) also maintained a one-game lead over Glenbard East atop the DVC standings.
"This is a big win for us," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "You're playing a team like that on their home floor, and they're hotter than all get out. And we answered every time."
The Tigers (8-6, 2-3) were anything but hot early, and that's when Naperville Central ripped out to its decisive lead.
Behind four first-quarters by Danny Ondik, the Redhawks burst ahead 20-5. A David Mallett 3-pointer kept the advantage at 23-10 before WW South finally found its own perimeter touch.
Four players - Reilly O'Toole, Dan Phillip, Will Dolatowski and Derek Babb - combined for nine 3-pointers on the night.
In fact an 11-2 barrage early in the fourth quarter helped the Tigers pull within 43-40 with four minutes left. Phillip's three-point play and O'Toole's 3-pointer made it 49-46 with a minute left, but the Redhawks' Drew Crawford nailed 5 of 6 free throws in the final 45 seconds to keep them unbeaten in the DVC.
"Our defense really picked up and won us that game," said Crawford, who finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. "It was a real successful weekend. We beat Glenbard North last night, and this is always a tough place to play. It feels good to come here and get a win."
WW South, coming off a Friday night win at West Aurora, never let down despite the huge early deficit. The Tigers' first rally spanned the second quarter as Phillip came off the bench to score 8 of his team-high 16 points and bring the team within 25-21 by halftime.
Three-pointers by Nick Linne and Mallett pushed the Redhawks' lead to another seemingly comfortable gap of 16 points. Again, though, five WW South 3-pointers in a three-minute span made it a 3-point game.
O'Toole scored 12 points for the Tigers. Ondik had 14 points and Mallett tallied 10 for the Redhawks.
"You can't go down 20-5 against Naperville Central," said Tigers coach Mike Healy. "But I thought our kids did a great job of fighting and clawing. Our guys just really put in a great effort."