WW South bounces back vs. Naperville C.
Wheaton Warrenville South's boys basketball team had three days to stew on a 33-point loss.
Judging by Tuesday's performance the Tigers used the time wisely.
Coming off what coach Mike Healy described as some of the team's best practices of the season, WW South held off visiting Naperville Central 48-44 in a DuPage Valley Conference meeting between two teams trying to hold their second-place spot.
The Tigers (14-6, 6-3) built a 15-point second-half cushion at one point and led 46-37 after a pair of Greg McAndrew free throws with 2 minutes, 38 seconds left in the game. Naperville Central (13-8, 5-4), which struggled with its shooting before that point, suddenly came alive.
Mark Bicek's 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 46-40. After a WW South turnover, Bicek's offensive rebound led to Nick Linne's third 3-pointer of the quarter to make it 46-43 with 1:31 left.
The Tigers again turned the ball over, and Linne had an open look at a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The shot went just off the mark, however, and McAndrew nailed a pair of clutch free throws to boost the margin to 48-43.
After a David Niggins free throw for the Redhawks with 48 seconds left, they came no closer.
"Our main point we focused on this week was coming out with a better start, and so we felt like we accomplished that," said Tigers senior Derek Babb. "We definitely wanted to beat them to keep a hold on second place."
Like WW South, Naperville Central has endured its own inconsistent play in recent weeks. After last week's impressive win over West Aurora, the Redhawks buried themselves with 5-of-28 shooting from the field in the middle quarters against the Tigers.
"I thought our shooting was horrendous," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "I thought Nick Linne hit some big 3s to bring us back, but it's because we made shots. We just didn't have any kind of rhythm offensively."
Jason Schuman's 3-point play put WW South ahead 14-10 after one quarter. An 11-5 run started the second quarter, and then a 6-0 run greeted the second half to put the Tigers on top 34-19 in the third quarter.
Linne's 12 points paced the Redhawks while Babb's 11 led the Tigers.
"I thought our kids played with a ton of energy," Healy said. "We had two good practices and kind of refocused after Friday, and I think this is a great game for the kids."