Second half carries Redhawks

Updated: March 23, 2011 1:20PM

At various times Saturday night, reasons why Naperville Central entered its Senior Night with a sub-.500 record became very apparent.

However, the Redhawks persevered and behind a solid second half, pulled away from West Chicago to roll to a 52-30 victory.

Freshman center Nick Czarnowski and senior forward David Niggins were the two lone Redhawks to score in double figures, but it was good enough to help extend their winning streak to three games, matching their longest of the season.

Pete Kramers charges have won three consecutive conference games for the first time all season.

Czarnowski scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the first half as Naperville Central made a concerted effort to pound the ball inside.

"We knew that we had a pretty good advantage down there," Czarnowski said. "When we work the ball around, we usually get some nice passes. I thought we wanted to establish a good start there, and I thought we really did."

Seven of Czarnowski's 11 first-half points occurred during Naperville Centrals 12-3 run to open the game, which served as a prelude for most of the night as Naperville Central built a lead as large as 24 points late in the second half.

The big lead allowed Kramer to play some seniors who dont normally see a lot of time on the floor.

"We played the seniors because thats what Senior Nights all about," Kramer said.

Coming off an important victory the night before at Wheaton North, the Redhawks bounced back from a sloppy first half by picking up the pace defensively during the games final 16 minutes.

Naperville Central (12-13, 5-8 DuPage Valley) permitted West Chicago to 12 points in the second half, including only three points in the third quarter alone.

While the Redhawks were in the process of stretching an 11-point halftime lead to 20 points by the end of the third, the Wildcats only points in the quarter came courtesy of a conventional three-point play from junior forward Justin Mundt, who led the Wildcats with 14 points, with 2:24 left to play in the quarter.

"We came out really aggressive (defensively) in the second half," said Niggins, who added 11 points in his last home game, of the teams defense in the second half. "Our defense really did step up. We allowed them one shot and out, if we didnt steal the ball. Intensity was great this whole (second) half. "

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.