Naperville Central finds answers against WW South
Andy Nussbaum looked like a coach searching for answers last Saturday at Waubonsie Valley.
By Thursday night he found a few he liked.
Emma Ondik led a balanced attack with 18 points, and Naperville Central rebounded from its worst loss of the season to beat No. 20 Wheaton Warrenville South 49-42 in Naperville.
"Huge win for us. Our players responded," Nussbaum said. "I think the last three days of practice might be the best three days of practice we've had all year. That's a big, big win for us."
The Redhawks (6-4, 3-0 DuPage Valley Conference) led nearly the whole way, jumping out to an early 9-3 lead. Ondik was her usual steady, hard-nosed self, but she had many helping hands.
Jill D'Amico returned from missing Saturday's game with a soccer commitment to score 9 points off the bench. D'Amico's three-point play pushed the Redhawks ahead 24-19 at the half and she later muscled in a tough score to extend the lead to double figures in the fourth quarter.
Emma Donahue had 8 points and 13 rebounds with Bradley University in attendance scouting her, and sophomore Victoria Trowbridge added 7 points and 6 boards.
"Emma's demeanor against their press was tremendous," Nussbaum said. "The times we weren't successful, Emma Donahue wasn't in the game."
Jamie Cuny knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for Naperville Central, including one right out of halftime to push the lead to 27-19.
"We got ourselves in a hole," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "It's tough playing catchup against that team with Ondik on the floor."
WW South (6-2, 2-1) had its six-game winning streak snapped. The Tigers host Maine West on Saturday before a tough game with Geneva to start the holiday tournament at Benet. The Tigers were hurt by 23 turnovers, many unforced.
"Consistency right now is a big thing," Kroehnke said. "I told them this is either going to be a bump in the road or a big old pot hole. It's up to them."
Freshmen Maggie Dansdill and Meghan Waldron came off the bench to spark WW South with 11 and 6 points apiece. The Tigers also hit their first 13 free throws, a point of emphasis in practice after Tuesday's game against Naperville North.
"They gave us a great boost," Kroehnke said. "They're going to make freshman mistakes and they're learning as they go. But they are very aggressive."
A Donahue jumper with 6:30 left gave Naperville Central its biggest lead at 42-30. A pair of Dansdill free throws got WW South as close as 44-40 with 2:28 left. The Redhawks, who kept pace with West Chicago atop the DVC with both Wheatons a game back, showed great poise against WW South's constant trapping defense.
"It's really important to get off to a good start in conference," Ondik said. "We definitely practiced a lot harder this week. We knew we played pretty bad on Saturday. That was unacceptable. We had to practice harder and play better in the next game and we did."