Naperville Central, Wheaton North all even in the DVC
When Emma Ondik releases a big shot, Andy Nussbaum has an awful good vibe.
"Emma Ondik, (former Redhawk) Erica Carter, if they played h-o-r-s-e we'd be here all night," said the Naperville Central coach. "Best two shooters I've had in 22 years. And Emma doesn't have the benefit of having the best player in the history of the world on her team."
Ondik was money in the bank on Thursday night in Wheaton, hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:29 left to rally the Redhawks past Wheaton North 46-42 and into a virtual first-place tie atop the DuPage Valley Conference.
Naperville Central (22-5, 10-2), which trailed by 9 in the third quarter, knew this was a must-win to keep its title hopes alive. Wheaton North beat Naperville Central Jan. 9 in Naperville.
"This is huge," said Ondik, who scored 19 points and hit the clinching free throw with four seconds left. "If we lost it would have been almost impossible to come back from. We know they're a really good team, but we knew we could beat them."
Wheaton North (14-9, 9-2) saw its nine-game DVC win streak snapped and lost for the first time since December with its full lineup. Junior guard Fantasia Vine missed the Falcons' lone loss since then to St. Charles North with an ankle injury and has averaged 9 points in three games since after averaging over 19 during a seven-game win streak.
Vine, who scored 8 points Thursday, rolled in a jumper with 2:05 left to give Wheaton North its last lead at 42-40. Ondik answered with her 3-pointer and Wheaton North turned it over three times in the final 1:16.
"We didn't play well," Falcons coach David Eaton said. "We gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter, and we pride ourselves on our defense.
"Our offense didn't look good tonight. There was no flow or continuity. We had streaks where we played well, but there wasn't the consistency."
A 9-0 Wheaton North run pushed the Falcons ahead 23-20 at the half, and it was 29-20 after a Lauren Graham score with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Naperville Central answered with the next 9 points to tie it on an Emma Donahue score and reclaimed the lead with 5:51 left in the fourth on a hard drive to the basket by Ondik.
Ondik, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game, scored 11 of her 19 in the fourth quarter. Donahue added 12 points and 12 rebounds.
"Just a great high school game," Nussbaum said, "and I remember thinking that when we were down 29-20. We talked about keeping our poise. Wheaton North plays with a high level of intensity, and we didn't handle it well at our place. I thought we showed remarkable poise when we were down 29-20. We didn't let it get away."
The Redhawks alternated between a box-and-one with Ondik checking Vine, man-to-man and a 1-3-1 zone, and they held Wheaton North to its lowest point total with a full lineup since Dec. 22. Graham scored 14 points for the Falcons, who didn't attempt their first free throw until 4:10 left in the game. Naperville Central shot 21.
"We just have to put it behind us and move on," Graham said, "come out ready to play Saturday against Naperville North."