York knocks out Naperville Central

Seventh-seeded York will vie for its third straight regional title after dominating the second half against No. 10 Naperville Central in Tuesday's second semifinal at the Class 4A Glenbard West regional in Glen Ellyn.

The Dukes won 49-33.

Harrison Hallstrom's post bucket to start the third quarter narrowed the Redhawks' deficit to 21-18, but York seized command with an 11-0 run. A 12-1 fourth-quarter burst put the game out of reach.

The Dukes (17-12) face No. 2 Benet, a 45-39 winner over Glenbard West, in Friday's regional final.

"The last two years we've won a regional so the bar's set pretty high," said York senior Luke Libert. "I think we just came out real focused, really aggressive and fired up to play."

Except for junior guard Emmanuel Rugamba, who made four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 14 points, Naperville Central struggled on offense. The Dukes, who received a game-high 18 points from Jayvon Thomas, took full advantage.

Four players scored during a second-quarter run and four players scored during the third-quarter run. The points came on everything from three-point plays to 3-pointers as the Dukes steadily pulled away.

"We just couldn't get it done," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "It's disappointing it had to end this way, but I'm proud of the way they performed all year."

Joe Pierotti scored 10 points for York while Ryan Camp added 9 points. Nate Dahl tallied 8 points for Naperville Central.

"They just missed shots tonight," said York coach Vince Doran, whose team lost to Benet in December without Thomas in the lineup. "We've seen them make a lot of shots this year, and fortunately for us we were able to get enough stops to get good possessions offensively at key times. And our kids finished."

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