At the finish it's WW South

It's games like Saturday's that makes Wheaton Warrenville South appreciate how far it's come since last season.

The Tigers trailed Naperville Central by as many as 8 points in the first half before catching up and taking a 53-50 DuPage Valley Conference victory in Naperville.

"I told our kids we battled back from down in the first half, we took the lead, we held on to the lead, we finished the game," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "I'm real proud of them. We took care of the ball, we hit our free throws, played defense and we rebounded when we had to because they're not going to give up on you, that's for sure."

The victory makes the Tigers 15-5 on the season, 6-2 in the DVC, and they're enjoying basketball a lot more than last year's 6-22 season.

"It was huge," Tigers senior Heidi Ansiel said of the win, "because last year we had a lot of disappointment and we talked about finishing games, so we said this is the game we need to learn how to finish."

The Tigers remain a game behind Wheaton North (7-1) in the DVC standings, with Naperville Central (18-4, 7-2) dropping out of first.

"This was very huge for conference," Tigers senior Katie Ottolin said. "We're just going to take it one game at a time. Every game that happens is the biggest game of that night. We're just going to keep moving, plugging and chugging."

"It makes things a little more interesting now," Kroehnke added. "Now at least (the Redhawks are) back on our level, and now we get Wheaton North two more times."

For Naperville Central the loss on Senior Night was doubly troubling. The Redhawks have to play their last five DVC games on the road, in addition to all three remaining nonconference games.

"I'm disappointed, but I'm especially disappointed for our seniors," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said of Claire Fleming, Erin Antony, D.D. Buttgereit and Catherine Tanck, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in December but was on the floor for the opening tip Saturday.

The Tigers' victory overshadowed a great performance by Naperville Central point guard Emma Ondik. The junior hit six 3-pointers to total a personal-best 26 points. The Redhawks shot 12 of 26 on 3-pointers, with seniors Fleming and Antony each hitting 3.

"She was outstanding," Nussbaum said of Ondik. "We gave her a pretty tough defensive assignment too. It wasn't like she was playing only on one end."

"We pride ourselves on our defense," Kroehnke said. "I think we've only given up over 40 three times this year. We knew they were going to come out and score, but boy, I think Ondik earned just about every one she put up there."

Ondik also dished 4 assists in a game in which the Redhawks committed a measly 7 turnovers. Unfortunately for the Redhawks, the Tigers did them one better in the turnover department, coughing up only 6 turnovers, just 2 after halftime.

"Two turnovers when you're trying to hold onto the lead. That's says a lot about the kids we had out there," Kroehnke said. "That's a game we lost last year because we couldn't finish it. It's a lot of fun. A lot of fun."