No. 500 for Naperville C.'s Nussbaum

It was a night the Naperville Central Redhawks girls basketball team will never forget.

In his 24th season as Redhawks coach, Andy Nussbaum recorded his 500th career victory Friday night as Naperville Central (1-1) defeated Metea Valley 45-25 at the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament.

"It really means two things," Nussbaum said of his milestone. "I'm old, and I always have great players."

The Redhawks got things rolling with a 9-0 run near the end the first quarter, with the help of two 3-pointers by senior guard Sarah Lang. Senior guard Jill D'Amico hit 2 free throws just before the half that gave the Redhawks a 10-point lead at halftime.

Senior center Emma Donahue led Naperville Central in scoring with 10 points, while D'Amico put up 8 points. Junior guard Megan Geldernick led the Mustangs with 10 points.

The Mustangs could not muster much offense in the second half. Geldernick made a 3-pointer with less than a minute left in the game, but it was too late, and Naperville Central earned the 20-point victory. Mustangs coach Kris Kalivas knew it just wasn't her team's night.

"I don't think anything was clicking for us tonight," she said. "We didn't take care of the basketball. We were looking to force passes instead of working the offense through and when you force passes against a lineup that's 6-foot tall, you're not going to get any through."

Donahue was especially happy to be part of the historic night for Nussbaum.

"I'm proud to be on the team that (got him his 500th win)," she said. "It's a great accomplishment for him and for us to be there for him."

Nussbaum is just happy to see his team's excitement to play the game.

"Our girls are playing hard," he said. "They're excited about what we think we can be, and I think they're excited from head to toe."