Redhawks creep closer to DVC title
Not that there is a bad way to notch your 100th win, but Naperville Central's Pete Kramer would be hard pressed to script his much better.
The Redhawks kept their DuPage Valley Conference record perfect, twice coming from 7 points down and also overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit, to win at West Aurora for the first time in Kramer's six years and give their coach his 100th career victory.
"It feels great, but the biggest thing is we did it over here," said Kramer, whose team has beaten West Aurora three straight times in Naperville. "We proved tonight we're the best team in conference and somebody has got to beat us to change that."
Friday's 51-46 final came after a game full of momentum swings, high emotions and bodies flying all over the court. The game included 8 ties and 7 lead changes, the final coming on David Mallett's two free throws with 3:03 left that put Naperville Central ahead to stay 45-44.
In short, it was the opposite of Naperville Central's first win against West Aurora, a 68-48 blowout. About the only similarity was the all-around brilliance of Northwestern-bound Drew Crawford, who followed a 26-point outing in December with 25 points Friday night.
"Playing here is always going to be a good game, it's always going to be intense," Crawford said. "I think we matched it well. It got pretty physical but we just gave it our all."
Naperville Central (18-2, 8-0) shared the DVC title with Wheaton North last year. Friday's win could go a long way to making the Redhawks outright champs this season.
"We want to have it for ourselves," said Mallett, who joined Crawford in double figures with 12 points.
"We saw some adversity we haven't really seen. I think we kept our composure well under pressure."
West Aurora (13-6, 5-3) led almost the entire first half. The Blackhawks took their biggest lead at 22-15, only to watch Crawford score 7 straight points to tie the game. Markus Cocroft's 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave West Aurora a 25-22 halftime lead.
Naperville Central's best stretch came in the third quarter, a 17-5 burst that put it ahead 41-36, with Danny Ondik's 3-pointer capping the run. Crawford also had a steal and two-hand slam that gave Naperville Central just its second lead, 35-33.
D.J. Vaughn's only basket of the night, a 3-pointer, opened the fourth quarter and tied the game at 41. West Aurora became more deliberate, taking a minute, 15 seconds off the clock before Juwan Starks scored inside for a 44-41 lead.
Naperville Central responded by getting to the free-throw line. The Redhawks only made 1 field goal in the fourth quarter while sinking 8 of 9 free throws. Trailing by 3 points in the final 1:30, West Aurora missed a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers.
The only fourth-quarter free throw Naperville Central missed, Matt Neufeld snatched the offensive rebound and got fouled. He hit both his attempts with 18 seconds remaining for the 51-46 final.
West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman didn't take much solace in playing a closer game in the second meeting with the Redhawks.
"It's not horseshoes or hand grenades so it doesn't do much good," Kerkman said. "I'm happy with the effort we put out most of the time. I got a little fired up with them after the game because I thought there were some mistakes we made defensively that have been cardinal sins for us but we keep making them."
Cocroft led West Aurora with 13 points and Starks added 8. Jamal Blackmond did his best to stay with Crawford and finished with 5 steals.
"Crawford is tough but you really can't help out because they have many good shooters," Cocroft said.