Girls basketball: Jones sparks Naperville Central to semifinal victory in return from injury
It was a close first half when Naperville Central and Lake Park met in the semifinals of the 42nd annual Komaromy Classic girls basketball tournament Monday night at Dundee-Crown.
Senior Trinity Jones turned out to be the big difference-maker for Naperville Central. She scored a game-high 21 points in her first game back from a four-game hiatus due to a knee injury. The Redhawks captured a 49-39 victory to advance to the championship game at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The Redhawks only led 19-16 at halftime, but a 3-pointer by senior Collette McInerney boosted the lead to 29-16 just three minutes into the third quarter, and the Lancers were forced to play catch-up the rest of the period.
Naperville Central (12-2) built a 36-21 lead on a 3-pointer by Jones before taking a 38-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
Lake Park (13-2) cut the lead to 38-29 on a 3-pointer by senior Maggie Frank with 7:05 to play. But three free throws by Jones boosted the Redhawks' lead back to 44-29 with 5:41 remaining.
“They're a pretty tough defensive team, and we felt we needed to stop their two best players,” said Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum, whose team shot 43.2% from the field. “I thought Trinity (Jones) was pretty solid in her first game back in two and a half weeks, and we've got to get used to having her back.”
Senior Allie Gogola scored a team-high 15 points for the Lancers, while senior Erin Hackett hit double figures with 10 points for the Redhawks. Lake Park junior Caitlyn Mikes had 9 points, and Frank had 8 points.
“I'm just adjusting to getting back to playing with my team, and we got the job done,” said Jones, who was 7 for 8 from the free-throw line. “Once we get a lead we're pretty good at keeping it, and we got the ball to our scorers and played good defense.”
The Lancers put together a late rally, but it was not enough to overcome the large deficit Naperville Central had established. The Redhawks got 6 points from McInerney and 5 points apiece from Jaliyah Brown and Annabelle Kritzer. Lake Park was outrebounded 28-17 overall.
“They're a good team, and they've got a lot of pieces,” said Lake Park coach Bobby Reibel, whose team shot 36.8% from the field. “I thought we played very hard, we executed our game plan, and we wanted to control the tempo of the game.”