Flu can't slow down Crawford, Naperville Central

Even when he’s battling the flu, Naperville Central star Drew Crawford can still dominate a game.

The Northwestern recruit proved that Friday, sinking four three-pointers and scoring a game-high 21 points as the host Redhawks defeated crosstown rival Naperville North 43-32 in a tough defensive struggle.

“It was one of those grind-it-out games just because the intensity is so high [against] Naperville North,” Crawford said. “Everyone was real excited and sometimes when you get too excited you go out and don’t execute as well as you’d like to. That’s kind of what happened but we picked it up in the second half.”

Crawford scored eight points in the third quarter as Naperville Central (8-1, 3-0 DuPage Valley) extended a 22-18 lead to 33-23. Naperville North (3-5, 0-3) pulled within 33-29 early in the fourth quarter but Crawford, playing with four fouls, answered with a three-pointer.

David Mallett and Matt Neufeld each scored six points for the Redhawks, while Danny Ondik had six assists and five rebounds. Arnas Gintautas had 10 points and 6-9 center Matt Hasse grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Huskies, who shot 9-for-37 from the floor and 12-for-24 from the line.