Naperville Central finds a good partnership
Every Batman needs his Robin.
Naperville Central senior forward David Niggins has freshman center Nick Czarnowski as his new partner in crime.
The dynamic duo used some crisp high-low passes to combine for 42 points and 14 rebounds in Naperville Central's 67-50 win over Fremd in Tuesday night's continuation of the Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament at Fenton High School.
"We're young, but we have good chemistry," said Niggins, who scored an evenly distributed 28 points. "I knew (Nick's) older brother Bobby and played him with last year. I've been over to their house and talked to him a lot, played with him a lot. It builds chemistry between us."
Naperville Central (1-1) jumped all over the Vikings (0-2) in the first quarter with good offense and staunch defense to take a 17-3 lead. A good start and strong finish negated some of the negative feelings and provided a better night's sleep than an 11-point loss to Libertyville did Monday night.
"We came out firing," Niggins said. "That was a bad loss yesterday. We wanted to redeem ourselves and show people we're actually a really good team."
Fremd senior Zach Monaghan started slow but found a groove in the second half en route to a game-high 30 points. Unfortunately for him and the Vikings, he was the only one on the team with a hot hand, which failed to pull within a two-possession deficit after the initial first quarter barrage.
"We got to 10 three or four times and were in the bonus too but never got it below seven," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "They always had an answer."
Naperville Central guard Bryce Kirk was one of them, knocking down three 3-pointers off the bench to finish with 11 points.
"He hit some big shots," Redhawks coach Pete Kramer said. "It was a very good team win."
The more the guards contribute with their shot-making, the easier it will be for Niggins and Czarnowski to let the game come to them. And the wins shouldn't be too far behind.
"I love having the guards we have," Niggins said. "This game was huge for our confidence and momentum. We have the skill and talent to win this tournament."