Boys Basketball: Austin Pauga, Naperville Central hand Waubonsie Valley first loss

Updated: December 3, 2011 11:07PM

After struggling with his shot recently, Naperville Central sophomore Austin Pauga was pulled from the starting lineup for Saturday’s nonconference game against Waubonsie Valley.

“We were trying to figure out what to do to get him more comfortable,” Redhawks coach Pete Kramer said.

Kramer may have found his new sixth man.

Pauga scored 21 points, including a scorching 6-for-7 from three-point range, to help Central post a 73-66 win and knock Waubonsie from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Pauga hit five of his three-pointers in the first half, when the Redhawks (4-2) were 7-for-13 from behind the arc as a team. Central hit 10 of 19 three-pointers collectively. That was lacking in Friday’s loss to Glenbard East in the DuPage Valley Conference opener.

“As a team, we started hitting our shots,” Pauga said. “If one person starts hitting, we all start hitting. I just felt like my shot was coming off a lot smoother than last night. I fixed my arc, because last night my shot was flat.”

Waubonsie (5-1) was up 14-11 late in the first quarter, but Pauga turned the tables by drilling a pair of threes to end the quarter. In the second, the Warriors cut the lead to 25-23, but Pauga knocked down three more treys in the final couple of minutes to stake the Redhawks to a 34-25 halftime lead.

“I made a decision last night to bring Austin in off the bench, maybe take some of the pressure off of him, and obviously it worked,” Kramer said. “He may come off the bench for a while. He’s a sophomore and he’s feeling his way. This is the first time he’s really exploded. He’s capable of doing that every night.”

With a shooter like Jared Brownridge, however, Waubonsie is never out of a game. Brownridge single-handedly kept the Warriors within striking distance in the second half. He scored a game-high 31 points, including 6-for-14 shooting from three-point range, but the closest Waubonsie could get in the second half was six points due to timely shooting from Central.

“Whenever we got close, they hit some shots,” Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer said. “I told our guys that I don’t let one game define our season. They were the better team tonight and they shot very well. We have some work to do. Hopefully we’ll respond and be hungry going into next week.”

The Redhawks’ hot outside shooting was complemented by the play of sophomore Nick Czarnowski inside. He led the team with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but we sort of lost in the shuffle due to Central’s heroics from the outside.

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