Naperville Central hits its shots

It’s the kind of offensive performance Naperville Central’s boys basketball team expects every night.

Even this, though, seemed beyond the norm.

Sophomore Austin Pauga led a barrage of 10 3-pointers as the Redhawks beat visiting Waubonsie Valley 73-66 in Saturday’s nonconference matchup.

Pauga, one of five Naperville Central (4-2) players to hit a 3, nailed six of them to finish with 21 points. The Redhawks’ stellar shooting overshadowed a brilliant night from Waubonsie Valley junior Jared Brownridge, who led all scorers with 31 points.

“As a team we finally started hitting our shots,” Pauga said. “We all started passing the ball, we all set good screens, and everyone started getting open.”

It was a far cry from the night before when 2-of-17 fourth-quarter shooting cost the Redhawks in a 60-52 DuPage Valley Conference loss to Glenbard East.

Naperville Central needed every bit of its offense against the Warriors and Brownridge, who nearly single-handedly kept Waubonsie Valley (5-1) in the game by also knocking down six 3-pointers.

Despite his efforts, the Warriors did not come closer than 8 points away from Naperville Central until Brandon Malby’s 4-point play with 19.1 seconds left in the game accounted for the game’s final points.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” said Warriors coach Steve Weemer. “I thought we played hard, and every time we got close they just hit some shots. I told our guys I won’t let one game define our season. They were the better team tonight and they shot very well.”

Waubonsie Valley’s biggest lead of 4 points came in the first quarter but an 11-2 run spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second gave Naperville Central the lead for good. Pauga hit a pair 3s during the burst and added three more just before halftime as the Redhawks took a 34-25 lead to the break.

Six-foot-8 Redhawks sophomore Nick Czarnowski scored 13 of his team-high 22 points in the paint in the second half. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Czarnowski’s 6-of-8 free-throw shooting helped Naperville Central convert 19 off 22 attempts from the line for the game. Mike Groves, who hit all four of his attempts, scored 12 points.

Bryan Jefferson did his own damage inside for Waubonsie Valley, scoring 9 of his 13 points in the third quarter. Malby tallied 10 points.

“This was a big win for us just to get back in the right groove,” said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer.