Girls basketball: Naperville Central edges Waubonsie Valley in thriller to clinch DVC title despite Mporokoso’s 43 points
Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley offered an early glimpse of what postseason girls basketball games may look like next week on Tuesday night.
Seniors Trinity Jones and Erin Hackett combined to score 18 of the Redhawks’ 19 fourth-quarter points, pushing the visitors to a thrilling 68-65 DuPage Valley Conference triumph over the Warriors (28-2, 8-2).
While beating Waubonsie for the second time this season, the Redhawks (24-6, 9-1) also earned their first conference championship since 2018.
Hackett, who surpassed the 2,000-point mark (2,004) for her career with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, led the Redhawks with 30 points, while the 6-foot-2, Clemson-bound Jones scored 13 of her 25 points over the final 8 minutes.
Jones provided the go-ahead bucket with a driving layup, giving the Redhawks a 66-65 lead with 37 seconds remaining moments after Maya Pereda’s 3-pointer from the corner put Waubonsie up, 65-64.
“In the fourth quarter, she put it in another gear,” Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said of Jones. “We wanted to get her the ball more often. They (Warriors) did a pretty good job keeping her away from the ball.”
After the Warriors’ missed 3-point attempt, Jones calmly knocked down a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to provide the final margin.
Naperville Central finished 16 of 18 from the foul line.
“Our free-throw shooting is pretty good,” said Nussbaum. “Once we get to the line, we’re pretty confident.”
“We shoot a lot of free throws in practice,” said Jones, who added a game-high 14 rebounds.
The second half featured 12 lead changes, as Waubonsie senior guard Danyella Mporokoso knocked down all six of her 3-point baskets, including a stretch of four consecutive 3-pointers, during the Warriors’ 29-point third quarter.
The Illinois State-bound Mporokoso, who tallied a game-high 43 points, cooled off down the stretch, making 1 of her 10 fourth-quarter shots, misfiring on a potential game-tying 3-point try at the buzzer.
“I feel like that last shot is my responsibility whether it is contested or not,” said Mporokoso, who finished 16 of 39 from the field, including 6 of 20 from beyond the arc.
Waubonsie lost the first meeting, 75-60, on Jan. 15 in Naperville.
“It shows us the level we can play at but how much better we have to be,” said Mporokoso.
Hackett tried to match Mporokoso with a 14-point performance, including back-to-back 3-pointers, in the third quarter.
“It feels great,” she said. “We haven’t won the conference championship since I’ve been here. They’re a good team, and we beat them for a second time now.
“It (reaching 2,000) was one of my goals at the beginning of the season. To achieve it in the regular season was really good.”
Junior center Annabelle Kritzer added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Redhawks, while sophomore Sophia Cochran grabbed 12 rebounds.
“It’s really gratifying, especially when you beat a really good team like that,” said Nussbaum. “That’s a big win for us. We kind of surprised them the first time. There was no surprise this time.
“That was a pretty outstanding performance by Danyella (Mporokoso), but of course we’ve seen that kind of thing from Trinity, too. I have not seen a better player than those two.”
Arianna Garcia added 6 points and 7 rebounds for the Warriors.
“This is something that will teach us, and we’ll learn from it,” said Warriors coach Brett Love. “The great thing about it is it’s not over. We have an opportunity to make a (postseason) run. We may get another shot at them.”