Naperville Central sees no reason to sweat slow finish

Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum won't lose any sleep over the last eight minutes of Tuesday's game with Benet.

He's feeling good about his Redhawks.

The Redhawks opened up a 21-point lead late in the third quarter before holding off a late Redwings rally for a 63-57 win at the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament in Naperville.

"We didn't really sprint across the finish line, let's put it that way," Nussbaum said, "but overall our play for six minutes into the third quarter was pretty solid."

For the second time in three games, Naperville Central (4-0) had four starters score in double figures. Emma Ondik had 15 points, Claire Fleming had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Emma Donahue 12 points and 9 rebounds and Catherine Tanck 10 points and 7 boards. Erin Antony added 9 points.

"Right now the kids are pretty unselfish," Nussbaum said. "I couldn't be more happy. A lot of times you don't get that stuff until mid-January, and we're still in November. We're playing pretty good team basketball."

The Redhawks led 24-18 with two minutes left in the first half, then wrestled control of things with a 15-0 run that spanned more than seven minutes into the third quarter. A Tanck free throw gave Naperville Central a 39-18 lead with 2:40 left in the third. The margin was still 18 heading into the fourth.

Benet (2-2) turned up its fullcourt pressure in the final quarter, forcing Naperville Central into 9 turnovers. Sophomore guards Sidney Prasse and Nicole Valentine sparked the rally, Prasse scoring 10 of her 13 points in the fourth and Valentine 7 points.

A basket by Danielle Canulli, who had a team-high 15 points for Benet, made it 59-52 with 40 seconds left but Benet never drew closer until an Ashley Veselik 3-pointer as time expired.

"Naperville Central probably had us dead and buried," Benet coach Peter Paul said, "and all of a sudden we made a little run. Too little, too late, but we grew a little bit today. Let's see if it carries over."

Naperville Central will play Sandburg on Friday, then three-time defending tournament champion Trinity on Saturday. The Redhawks are still in line for their first tournament title since 2002, Candace Parker's junior year.

"Obviously, our goal is to win this tournament," Fleming said. "We're going to do anything we can to make that happen."