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Friday, March 29, 2024

Malik Hall’s 23 Points Leads Balanced Metea Valley Effort During 75-60 Victory Over Naperville Central

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It’s no coincidence coaches harp on not having to play from behind consistently.

It’s a lesson Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza preached in the aftermath of his team’s loss Friday at Naperville North and it’s one his charges heeded just four days later.

Sparked by sophomore Malik Hall’s team-high 23 points and its defense turning up the pressure in the fourth, Metea Valley earned a 75-60 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Naperville Central on Tuesday.

Hall was one of three Mustangs (10-13, 5-6) in double figures, with Jeremy Hunter (16) and Dei’Ron Delarosa (13) close behind.

All told, Hall converted on five three-pointers in providing glimpses of his 32-point effort against Bartlett back on Jan. 18 over at Wheaton Warrenville South.

“(Tuesday), we came out really hot,” Hall said. “We just started off really good. I just think we never cooled down. We just kept playing with a lead. If they came close, we would just extend it.

“I don’t think I’m a focal point. I think we just try to get the ball to everybody that’s open and that’s how we play.”

Three of those five triples and 13 of those 23 points came during a first half that saw Metea Valley lead throughout.

That was a sharp contrast from Friday’s six-point loss to Naperville North, which saw the Huskies lead wire-to-wire.

“We talked about it – the start we had, we wanted to have and the start we had Friday night and the hole we dug ourselves,” Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said. “I thought we played well after that hole last Friday night. And so I was happy with the way we came out. Could have been better at times, but it’s nice to get them at a distance.

“Games like that before, in the first half, maybe we don’t make the plays and they crawl back. But I thought we made plays at the end to keep them at arms length.”

A pair of Nick Kramer triples to open up the second half gave Naperville Central (12-9, 6-5) a one-point lead at 33-32.

From there, baskets from Hunter, Redhawks’ center Harry Hallstrom, Mustangs’ guard Matt Helwig and another one from Hallstrom netted the score at 37-37 with 4:38 left in the third.

The Mustangs immediately countered with a 8-0 run to take an eight-point lead at 45-37 with just under three minutes in the third.

But Metea Valley’s 6-0 run to open up the fourth turned the tide in its favor for good.

With the Mustangs holding a 47-43 advantage, Hall, Delarosa and Hunter each turned defense into offense by scoring buckets to put them up 10 just a minute into the quarter.

“It was very important to our lead, of course, because I think we ended up by 15,” Hall said. “So I think that lead definitely put us (into) a cushion that they couldn’t come back into the game late.”

Capitalizing on live-ball turnovers early transitioned into taking care of matters at the line later for the Mustangs, who hit on 18 of their 19 free-throw attempts.

Conversely, the Redhawks were eight-of-13 from the charity stripe in each half.

After a three-point play and one technical free throw from Hallstrom with 5:58 to play, eight points was the closest Naperville Central would get the rest of the way.

Hallstrom recorded game highs of 24 and 10 for the Redhawks – marking a third double-double for the 6-7 senior since Jan. 22.

Matthew Meier and Nick Kramer added 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Redhawks.

“Just their overall team speed just really, really hurt us throughout the whole night,” Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said of the Mustangs. “I didn’t think it was just at the end of the game but throughout the whole game.

“In the third quarter, we were down four and looking good and we just got beat in transition, got beat off the dribble, got beat off the pass. We didn’t help things with (Hall). He shot the heck out of the ball.”

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Blake Baumgartner
Blake Baumgartner
Raised in Naperville, Blake Baumgartner is a 2001 Naperville Central alumnus and a 2005 graduate of Michigan State's School of Journalism. Since March 2010, he has covered football, boys' basketball and baseball for both The Naperville Sun and Positively Naperville. Follow him on Twitter @BFBaumgartner.

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