Naperville Central has big game vs. Waubonsie Valley
Naperville Central's offense makes opponents have to pick their poison, and more times than not the results are not so good.
Friday night Waubonsie Valley went with a zone defense in an effort to combat the Redhawks' size in the post and to make it more difficult for guard Matthew Meier to slash his way to the rim on drive after drive.
The Redhawks (7-2, 4-0) countered but bombing away from the outside, using 11 3-pointers to build a 56-21 lead after three quarters on their way to a 67-34 victory. Meier and teammate James Kendrick each dropped in four 3-pointers and the pair combined for 33 points in Aurora.
“Waubonsie went zone against us and we kind of had to change it up from the way we played the last couple games,” said Meier, who had a game-high 19 points against the Warriors, but with far fewer darts to the basket than he had while reaching the 20-point plateau five times so far this season. “James started off the game hot, hit a couple of 3s, my shot was falling, hitting 3s, and Harry (Hallstrom) was hitting 3s. We were draining it.”
Naperville Central blitzed the hosts early and often. Meier and Kendrick each hit a pair of 3s while the visitors stormed ahead 20-5 after one quarter. Meier had 13 points while the Redhawks led 30-11 at the half. Hallstrom got in on the act with two long-range baskets in the third quarter on his way to 14 points, and then Kendrick capped the team's 3-point party when he banked in a bomb just before the horn buzzed to close out the third quarter.
“I love playing with Matthew,” said Kendrick, who has been a teammate of Meier's since elementary school. “He'll drive to the basket and if the team collapses I'll be waiting for the 3. I'll knock down an open shot and so will everyone else. It's been a lot of fun this year. That last one was crazy.”
Redhawks coach Pete Kramer was thrilled to have three players score in doubles figures and 10 players score in the game. To make matters better, the team expects to have sharpshooters Nick Kramer and Noah Swope back from injuries soon.
“Yeah, it was kind of a breakout game for us,” Kramer said of the perimeter success. “We're definitely capable of knocking down 3s, it's just, you know, Matthew's had the lane open the last few games. Tonight we see a zone and you either beat a zone from the outside or the inside. Tonight we beat it from the outside.”
For the Warriors, freshman Eric Cannon led the way with 8 points, all in the second half, while Justin Mullinax, Mark Rullo and Luke Gregorio each knocked down a 3-pointer.
“They have some big size inside and we were trying to neutralize that, and keep a zone around them,” Warriors coach Chaz Taft said. “Meier's a great player, but a lot of his game is driving to the basket and then he's either getting a layup or free throws. We wanted to keep him out of that situation, but they did a great job of knocking down 3s.”