One sequence of events perhaps best signified what Naperville Central was set out to do on Tuesday night.
Already up eight points late in the first half and relying on a ball-control – possession-type game – the Redhawks got the ball with just under a minute left with designs on getting the best shot they could or winding the clock all the way down.
Helped in large part to a save from senior Mark Nowak, junior Emmanuel Rugamba’s triple to beat the second-quarter buzzer gave Naperville Central a boost heading into the locker room en route to securing a 51-40 victory over Waubonsie Valley in Aurora.
“We’ve talked a lot the last couple weeks about limiting the other team’s possessions and the one way to do that is we got to value every possession we have on offense,” Redhawk junior guard Matthew Meier said. “We’re just trying to get the best shot we can and so like we did on Saturday (against Hinsdale Central), we slowed the game down, got good shots and I think it helped us (in) this game, as well.”
The 11-0 run to end the first half that broke a 13-13 tie helped give Naperville Central (11-7) momentum.
Scoring eight points on three straight possessions in a 1:14 stretch early in the fourth then put the game away for all intents and purposes.
Meier’s back-to-back three-point plays to go along with a Rugamba basket highlighted a 8-3 Redhawk run to start the fourth that increased their 10-point lead entering the game’s final eight minutes to their largest lead of 15 points at 40-25.
“When we were kind of spreading it out on offense, then they came up on us. What was key for us was we had to attack. In the last couple games, we weren’t attacking in the fourth quarter,” Meier said. “That’s why we’re only scoring like three points in the fourth quarter. (Tuesday), the coaches were saying ‘attack the rim’ and that’s where we’re going to get out baskets. So we attacked, got to the rim and that’s how we kept our lead.”
Meier, courtesy of his team-high 15 points, was one of three Redhawks to reach double digits, along with junior center Harry Hallstrom and senior Alex Pomeroy, who each chipped in with 10 points apiece.
Pomeroy was part of a Redhawk defensive effort that marked the eighth time they held an opponent to 41 points or less.
“Our defensive average is 41 points and (the Warriors) only scored 40 and I’m pretty sure we got in the 50s,” he said. “So I mean, just holding them under on defense and scoring a decent amount on offense really helped us.”
Waubonsie Valley (6-10) got as close as six points late in regulation as Chris Karkazis, who tallied a game-high 18 points, was doing his best to keep his team in it and keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Second-year Warriors’ coach Chaz Taft chalked up his team’s struggles for most of the night to one thing: turnovers.
“We just had too many turnovers. Not faking a pass to make a pass and the zone stuff and the matchup zone,” Taft said. “(The Redhawks) did a great job of that, playing that zone. And then they extended it out a little bit and we just kept not faking it to make it and they kept getting deflections and stuff. So it hurts when you have 16 turnovers.”
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