Girls basketball: Jones breaks her own scoring record in Naperville Central’s comeback win

Earlier this season, against defending Class 4A champion Kenwood, Naperville Central senior Trinity Jones scored 43 points to break the Redhawks’ single-game scoring record.

That effort eclipsed the 42 points that Redhawks legend Candace Parker had rung up back on Dec. 27, 2002.

Turns out, though, that Jones wasn’t done setting the standard.

Friday night against visiting Naperville North, the 6-foot-2 Clemson-bound forward poured in 44 points to improve on her record, and it propelled Naperville Central to a come-from-behind victory.

The Redhawks trailed the Huskies 37-29 at halftime, but they outscored the visitors 54-14 in the second half to claim an DuPage Valley Conference win 83-51.

“It’s a blessing,” Jones said of her stellar offensive output. “It’s exciting to think about, and I’m just happy we were able to come back and get the ‘W.’”

Naperville North played a near-perfect first half to take the 8-point halftime lead. The Huskies hit 6 of its first seven 3-point attempts and carried the momentum over to the second quarter.

“That first half was electric,” said Naperville North coach Aly Miller. “Our kids definitely rose to the challenge.”

Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said that he and his staff talked up being more active on the defensive end at the halftime break.

“We just needed to relax and play better ‘D,’” Nussbaum said. “I think that in the second half we played our style of basketball. When we play better defense, the offense takes care of itself.”

Naperville North (7-2, 0-2) sank 9 first-half 3s, but Naperville Central stepped up the pressure in the third quarter. On the offensive end the Redhawks scored 21 points before four minutes were gone in the third period to take control of the game.

Naperville Central (8-1, 2-0) kept its foot on the gas in the fourth quarter. Jones scored 10 points in the final period to help extend the advantage.

“We weren’t really playing together in the first half,” Jones said of the early Redhawks deficit. “We knew we had to adjust that, come out, play harder, all of the above. We came out in the second half and did that, but we don’t want it (having to come from behind) to be that way. We want to be the ones who come out and throw the first punch, but sometimes this happens.”

Senior guard Sam Kelly played an outstanding game for Naperville North. She scored 11 points, posted 4 steals, had 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Teammate Mia Podkasik matched Kelly’s point total with 11; senior Zoey Bishop scored 10, while Ava Podkasik pitched in with 8 points.

Jones added 9 rebounds for Naperville Central to go along with her record-setting scoring output; teammate Erin Hackett tallied 13 points; while 6-4 junior Annabelle Kritzer celebrated her 17th birthday with 9 points and 5 boards.

“All credit to (Naperville North) tonight,” Kritzer said. “They came out and were shooting great. We were able to pull it together (in the second half), get hands in their faces, and just play together.”

The junior added that the big crowd that came out to watch the contest between two of the area’s better teams was inspiring.

“I was looking forward to playing this game all day,” she said. “I knew it was going to be fun, exciting. Lots of fans here, just a different experience to play in front of your classmates, teachers, your coaches. Lots of people here to support us.”