Redhawks in control
Naperville Central may be pulling away atop the DuPage Valley Conference standings, but Glenbard East pulled back hard Tuesday night.
With a 69-64 Redhawks victory, however, it looks like the tug of war is over.
Naperville Central's boys basketball team moved a giant step closer to the outright DVC title by knocking the Rams three games back and into a three-way tie for second place.
The Redhawks (19-2, 9-0) still have work to do, but a three-game lead with five games to play looks secure.
"It's been a tough road," said Redhawks senior Drew Crawford, who scored a game-high 27 points. "It'd be huge for us to win the conference, we just need to keep working hard at it."
Naperville Central led 58-46 after Cam Brate's bucket with five minutes left - a bucket that turned out to be the Redhawks' last of the game.
Rams sophomore Zach Miller came alive at that point, scoring 15 of his 25 points in the final 4:45. A 3-pointer and a spectacular three-point play sparked a 15-6 run that brought Glenbard East (14-5, 6-3) within 64-61.
Another Miller three-point play came with 1:08 left. Capping a 14-of-14 night from the line, his free throw made it 66-64.
Glenbard East got the ball back, but Joe Rickert's steal led to a free throw and a 67-64 Redhawks lead. Miller fouled out on the play.
Rickert then rebounded a missed 3-pointer and hit a pair of free throws to seal the outcome in the waning seconds.
"We just stepped it up on defense and with rebounding," Miller said of the rally. "We executed our plays on offense. We came up short, but we ran our plays well."
Four players fouled out, including the Redhawks' Danny Ondik and Nick Linne and Glenbard East's Lee Skinner. Crawford flirted with four fouls for the final 5:52, but he never fouled out despite some close encounters.
Glenbard East showed typical balance as Paul Sanders scored 17 points and Jack Merrithey had 13. With a combined 33 second-half points, Miller and Sanders nearly capped a stunning comeback.
"I think we grew up a lot tonight," said Rams coach Scott Miller. "This was the first big game where we came out and played aggressively with a lot of fire and not passively. So I think that was important."
The Rams held mild leads throughout the first half before the Redhawks used an 8-1 run to build a 33-28 halftime lead. David Mallett, who scored 16 points, hit his fourth 3-pointer to give Naperville Central its first double-digit lead at 42-32 early in the third quarter.
"We knew we'd get everything from them," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer, whose team shared last year's DVC title with Wheaton North. "Just a great team win."
BOX SCORE
Naperville Central 69, Glenbard East 64
Glenbard East - Miller 5 14-14 25, Merrithey 5 0-0 13, Sanders 5 7-11 17, Hill 1 0-2 3, Skinner 1 2-4 4, Kernats 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 0-0 2, Havenga 0 0-0 0, Coleman 0 0-0 0, Kjeldsen 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 23-31 64.
Naperville Central - Crawford 7 9-13 27, Linne 1 2-2 5, Mallett 6 0-0 16, Ondik 2 2-2 7, Neufeld 1 0-0 2, Brate 1 1-4 3, Rickert 2 4-6 9, Pomeroy 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 18-27 69.
Glenbard East 17 11 14 22 -64
Naperville Central 17 16 16 20 -69
3-point baskets: GE: Merrithey 3, Miller, Hill. NC: Crawford 4, Mallett 4, Linne, Ondik, Rickert.
Fouled out: GE: Skinner, Miller. NC: Ondik, Linne.