Naperville Central stops Libertyville
Naperville Central overcame another big offensive performance by Libertyville’s Ellis Matthews with its own two-headed monster and defeated the Wildcats 65-49 Thursday to advance into the championship game of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic boys basketball tournament.
The Redhawks countered Matthews’ 27 points with a pair of 20-point games from sophomores Nick Czarnowski and Austin Pauga.
Naperville Central will face Stevenson in tonight’s 8:45 finale, and Libertyville will play Notre Dame at 7:15 for third place.
“I’m extremely proud of our effort,” Redhawks coach Pete Kramer said. “We were in a funk and came out of it in the second half (Wednesday) night.
“I’m real happy where we’re at,” Kramer said. “The kids are learning.”
Matthews poured in 3 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in the first quarter as the Wildcats (9-3) staked out an 18-9 lead. That’s when the 6-8 Czarnowski asserted himself and propelled the Redhawks into a lead they would hold the remainder of the game.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted to,” said Czarnowski, who also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists. “We just turned it on.”
“We tried to take it to him,” said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. “He uses his size well. He knows how to play.”
Czarnowski scored 12 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3-point plays. His 2 free throws tied the game at 23 with 1:46 left in the half, and sophomore Ryan Anthony canned a 3 with 36 seconds left to give Naperville Central (8-3) a 26-23 halftime lead.
Pauga picked up the pace in the second half, scoring 15 of his 20, including 3 3-pointers.
“He’s a great shooter,” Kramer said. “All I ask is that he takes good shots.”
Libertyville managed to pull within 3 points at 41-38 early in the third quarter, but Naperville Central’s balance, especially in the fourth quarter, was too much for the Wildcats.
Ian Lewandowski scored 8 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, Pauga added 9, Czarnowski 4, and Kevin Linne 3.
“They kept answering every time we got a little run going,” Bogumil said. “Pauga made us pay a couple of times.
“Give them credit; they made their free throws down the stretch. We were perimeter-happy. We settled too much for jumpers.”
“I was happy with our guard play,” Kramer said. “Kevin and Ian bring us toughness.”