Naperville Central claims Classic title
The championship trophy of Wheeling’s 34th annual Wildcat Hardwood Classic never seemed within Naperville Central’s grasp.
Not when the Redhawks trailed St. Viator by 16 points in the first half.
Not when they went down 9 points to Libertyville after one quarter.
Not when they spotted Stevenson an 8-point advantage with less than three minutes left in the first half Friday night’s tournament finale.
And when 6-foot-8 sophomore Nick Czarnowski stretched his hands high and held aloft the hardware following Naperville Central’s 48-46 win over Stevenson, few of his teammates could get a fingertip on the prize they just won.
“He’s too tall for me,” Ryan Antony said of his teammate with a smile.
Antony, the Redhawks’ 5-10 sophomore guard, played big, particularly in the fourth quarter when he sank a trio of 3-pointers, each seemingly more clutch than the last. And when Stevenson star Mike Fleming missed a 3 from the right corner at the buzzer, off an inbounds pass from Jalen Brunson, Naperville Central (8-3, 4-0 tourney) had its first Hardwood title since 2008 and its third overall (1999).
Stevenson (10-2, 3-1) suffered its first loss since an overtime decision to Elgin in the Patriots’ second game of the season.
“I had a really good look,” Fleming said of his last-second shot that would have won the game. “I’ve been in a little bit of a shooting slump coming off that big Prospect game (career-high 29 points). I had a good look. I was capable of knocking it down. It just didn’t fall for me.”
Fleming, who scored a game-best 19 points and averaged 19.8 points in the four games, was named the tournament’s outstanding player.
“I’m a little happy that I got the award, but it would have been even better if I helped my team win the championship,” Fleming said. “That was our goal. It wasn’t for me to win MVP. ... We’re just going to learn from this. We’re going to take this into our conference games, and we’re going to keep winning.”
Fleming sank his first shot of the night, a 3-pointer, but then missed his next eight. He heated up in the third quarter, and then he and flashy backcourt mate Brunson took turns in the fourth matching jaw-dropping shots with Antony.
“I was just waiting for my opportunity to step in,” said Antony, whose only basket prior to the fourth was a spinning runner that beat the halftime buzzer and got the Redhawks within 22-21. “I was being patient. I didn’t want to force anything in the first half. I waited until my shots came.”
Sophomores Austin Pauga (17 points) and Antony (11) were Naperville Central’s only double-digit scorers, but all eight players coach Pete Kramer employed contributed.
Pauga and Czarnowski represented the Redhawks’ on the all-tournament team.
“It was such a team effort,” Kramer said. “When we play together like this, it’s fun to watch them. These kids all know their roles. I thought we executed in the half-court the best we have all year, just being patient and running our stuff, the right people taking the right shots at the right time, and moving the ball like we’re capable of moving it.”
Pauga made 8 field goals (one 3-pointer), all coming on jump shots from no closer than 15 feet from the basket. He missed only 3 shots.
“What do you say about Pauga?” said Kramer, whose Redhawks also got 4 big points from Austin’s big brother Dylan. “He was just on fire. He hit some big shots. And that’s what it takes to beat a good team like that.”
Brunson, who had 14 points, also made the all-tourney squad for Stevenson. The Patriots led 22-13 in the second quarter, but Pauga’s pop-and-stop 16-footer with 2:51 left commenced an 8-0 run to close the half for Naperville Central.
“It just wasn’t meant to be,” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. “But we had a lot of things go our way over the four days. You can’t get all the breaks.”