Naperville Central edges West Chicago
Victoria Trowbridge's night started painfully, forced to the sidelines with a banged-up elbow after crashing to the court two minutes in.
Naperville Central sure was glad she returned.
The 6-foot Redhawks sophomore scored a career-high 18 points, capped by two game-clinching free throws in the final seconds of a 49-44 win over No. 17 West Chicago on Thursday in Naperville.
“We knew they were going to try to shut down Emma Ondik,” Trowbridge said, “so we knew as posts that we needed to step up and get the ball to the basket. We knew they couldn't stop us in the post so we wanted to get it inside more.”
Two Emma Donahue free throws with 15.7 seconds left gave Naperville Central a 47-44 lead. At the other end the Redhawks knocked the ball away and Trowbridge stole it. Her two free throws with 3.6 seconds left sealed the win that puts the Redhawks (12-7, 5-1 DuPage Valley Conference) into a share of the DVC lead with Wheaton Warrenville South, a game ahead of Wheaton North and West Chicago (13-5, 4-2).
The Redhawks now play their next eight games — five in conference — on the road, including a matchup at WW South next Saturday.
“This win says a lot about our mental toughness. Really pleased with that,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said, “and it's going to be important going forward.”
The two teams traded the lead four times in the fourth quarter, Mary Connolly's turnaround jumper with 2:06 left giving West Chicago its last lead at 44-43. Jill D'Amico fed Donahue for a layup at the other end.
West Chicago twice turned it over in the last minute. The Wildcats picked apart the Naperville Central defense to the tune of 57 percent shooting in the first half but weren't nearly as efficient after the break.
West Chicago led by as many as 12 in the first half, and 28-19 at half. Naperville Central turned the tables with an 18-4 run to start the third quarter.
Ondik, held scoreless in the first half, converted a three-point play on the Redhawks' first possession of the third quarter, hit a long 3-pointer to pull her team within 32-31, then banked in a runner off a feed from Trowbridge in transition to give Naperville Central its first lead since the game's first minute.
“I knew that they'd make a run and we just had to weather it,” West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said, “but a lot of it was about our offense. Lack of execution and turnovers. We didn't hit shots like we did in the first half. That always makes a difference.”
Donahue also scored 18 points for Naperville Central, the Redhawks taking advantage of a big height advantage inside. Connolly had 15 points and 8 rebounds for West Chicago. Claire Monroe added 11 points, 9 in the first half. Nussbaum credited the defense of Krissy Many, switched onto Monroe after halftime, for putting the clamps on West Chicago's leading scorer.
“The game changed for us defensively when we made that switch,” Nussbaum said. “Krissy does the things that don't show up in the box score that are real critical for us as a team.”