Kemph's 35 can't slow Naperville Central

Things did not start off well for Naperville Central on Tuesday night in Fenton's Chuck Mitchell boys basketball tournament in Bensenville.

Smarting after a 59-48 loss to South Elgin the previous night, the Redhawks put the defensive clamps on Rolling Meadows in the second quarter and third quarters.

Trailing by 11 points with 6:54 left in the half, Naperville Central (1-1) pulled off a 15-0 run to take the lead for good en route to a 73-61 victory.

"Against South Elgin we played as individuals,"said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer, who saw his team improve to 1-1. "Tonight we played as a team. We were agressive on defense and that promted us to be agressive on offense. Once we hit a few outside shots the inside opened up."

David Niggins' (17 points, 8 rebounds) 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the second quarter gave Naperville a 28-26 lead that they would not relinquish.

Rolling Meadows (1-1) senior Richie Kemph, who scored 35 points, including eight 3-pointers, was held in check in the middle two quarter with only 8 points. Kemph scored 36 on Monday against Glenbrook South.

The Mustangs pulled as close as 37-34 with 4:12 left in the third but a 10-2 run gave the Redhawks a comfortable cushion going into the fourth quarter.

Matt Neufeld led the Redhawks with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Bobby Czarnowski chipped in 13 of his 20 points in the second half.

"We wanted to prove tonight that were were better than what we showed last night," said Neufeld, a three-year starter. "We all contributed tonight because we new our roles."

"We just stopped executing after the first quarter," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "There were breakdowns on both offense and defense. But, it's early enough in the season to fix those things."