Naperville North completes sweep of Naperville Central
The players were not able to get retiring Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer a win in what may turn out to be his final game against rival Naperville North, but they did do what they always do – play hard.
The Redhawks had a tough first quarter as the hosts jumped ahead 17-8, but Naperville Central battled to the end and trailed by just seven in the fourth quarter before coming up short 51-41 to the Huskies, who were led by Jack Kallstrand’s 16 points and 6 steals.
“It was a great win, coming out against our rival for the second time this year,” said Kallstrand, who tallied a game-high 19 points in Naperville North’s defeat of the Redhawks earlier this season. “Last year we got the first one, but then they got the second one. We wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again this year.”
Naperville North (12-13, 3-5) got a spark when senior guard Cole Arl returned from an injury Friday and teamed with fellow 3-year varsity guard Bryce Welch to help the team start fast and never trail in the game after a 10-1 opening surge.
To the Redhawks’ credit, they gave it their all, especially post players Ross DeZur and Jackson First, who helped control the boards and allow Naperville Central to use a number of second chance scores to keep the game close. In the end, however, the slow start combined with some struggles at the foul line proved too costly.
“We struggle to score at times, that’s the biggest thing,” said Kramer, who served as the sophomore coach at Central for 12 years before guiding the varsity Redhawks for the last 21 seasons. “I thought we took care of the ball alright tonight, but we went 11-for-20 at the free-throw line and that hurt us.”
Kallstrand had a trio of 3-pointers in the first half while scoring 11 points and Welch added nine of his 11 points as the Huskies led 31-22 at the half. The lead grew to 44-32 after three quarters but Central opened the fourth quarter with a 3 from Jack Gervase and a layup from DeZur to close within 44-37. Kallstrand then answerd with a 3 of his own and the Huskies were back ahead comfortably for the remainder of the game.
“Central is strong and physical, they’re tough,” Huskies coach Gene Nolan said. “We got off to a good start and we just made enough plays toward the end. But Naperville Central’s a great team. Coach Kramer does such a great job. I’m going to miss coaching against him. I really value our friendship. He’s a great coach but an even greater person.”
First had 11 rebounds in the first half alone before finishing with 12 points and 14 points for the Redhawks (8-19, 0-8) while DeZur contributed 9 points and 6 rebounds.
“That’s one thing about these kids, our record isn’t great but you wouldn’t know it by their attitude and their effort,” said Kramer, who took over the program from the late Bob Sterr, who coached at Central for 25 years. Sterr and Kramer are 1-2 on the program’s all-time victory list.