Boys Basketball: Naperville Central, Metea Valley on a roll

Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo repeatedly has said his team generally shows its biggest in-season improvement over the Christmas break.

After seeing what his team did last week in the Wheeling Hardwood Classic, Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer would probably echo Izzo’s sentiments.

Coming away with the program’s first Wheeling Hardwood Classic title since 2008, Naperville Central’s youth led the way en route to claiming victories over Carmel, St. Viator, Libertyville and Stevenson on successive days.

“I think it’s the kids kind of falling into their roles. It’s been senior leadership that (Kevin) Linne and (Bryce) Kirk and (Ian) Lewandowski have given us from the guard play,” Kramer said. “I think Lewandowski getting into basketball shape has been a key for us, just because he brings a lot of experience and just leadership and toughness to the team. And also with that, you have the three sophomores that are just playing outstanding. They’re getting better every game.”

The trio of Redhawks sophomores — Nick Czarnowski, Austin Pauga and Ryan Antony — each had their moments in Wheeling for a team that’s re-entering DuPage Valley Conference play Friday on a five-game winning streak.

Czarnowski and Pauga were both named to the Wheeling Hardwood Classic All-Tournament Team for Naperville Central, which carries its 9-3 record into a pair of road dates at Glenbard North and Wheaton North, respectively, this weekend.

“I think a big game is Friday night, over at Glenbard North,” Kramer said. “We haven’t had a lot of success there as of late. Last year, we lost over there. It’s never easy over there and they’re athletic. If we continue to play like we have been, I think we’ll be fine. But you never know when you’re gonna lose that momentum for a night or two.

“After last Friday, I wanted to keep playing and now we have to stop for a week. We’ll see how our kids handle it. We’re taking it one game at a time, so we don’t even talk about Wheaton North until Saturday morning. It’s all Glenbard North.”

Czarnowski used three double-digit scoring efforts to help the Redhawks to get to the Wheeling Hardwood Classic championship game against Stevenson, where Pauga and Antony picked up some slack as the Patriots held the 6-foot-8 sophomore to just six points.

In the Redhawks’ 48-46 victory over the 10-win Patriots, Pauga tallied 17 points while Antony connected on three three-pointers in the fourth quarter as they erased a nine-point deficit.

“The three sophomores are basketball players and the other kids are kids that have been around and know the system and have a lot of experience,” Kramer said. “But, definitely, yeah, the three sophomores are the key. I think the biggest key for us is our defense and our rebounding have improved. We’re still scoring, we’re still scoring quite a few points every night, but our defense and our rebounding are getting more consistent. That’s helping us win ballgames, especially against good teams.”

Metea Valley claims second title

While young Naperville Central is starting to seemingly grow up and mature with each game, the experienced Metea Valley Mustangs, who have risen to No. 6 in the Sun-Times’ Top 25, continue to roll along.

Claiming its second tournament title of the season with four straight victories at the inaugural Hinsdale South Holiday Tournament last week, Metea Valley will take its unblemished 13-0 record into 2012 beginning Saturday at home against Lake Park.

“I think we’re staying hungry and we’re learning from each game and each practice,” Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said. “Just showing by the week (at Hinsdale South), we were kind of stressing that we need to put together four strong defensive quarters if we want to continue to get better and hopefully be in a position to win some big games at the end of the year.

“I think our understanding and our ability to do that helped out. I think we’re getting individual performances from a guy like (senior) Kenny Obendorf and guys are just realizing that there’s still improvement to be made and they’re not just relying on past performances.”

No one has been a bigger reason for the Mustangs’ success throughout this season than Obendorf.

On the heels of winning MVP honors in the Joliet West Thanksgiving Tournament, Obendorf added similar hardware to his trophy case last week by being named the MVP in the Hinsdale South Holiday Tournament.

In the Mustangs’ victories over Eisenhower, Rolling Meadows, Sandburg and Schaumburg, Obendorf scored a combined 94 points, a four-day effort which came off the heels of his 28-point effort in a 67-61 win at Neuqua Valley on Dec. 16.

“Just a quiet leader for us and immensely talented offensively,” Vozza said of Obendorf, who’s averaging 24.4 points a game in Metea Valley’s last five games. “Throughout our time with him, we envisioned this for him his senior year. I know he has always had success in his basketball career, but I don’t think he realized how good he could be. He just continues to flourish and get better and continues to work hard. He was outstanding last week.”

The same could probably be said for the entire Metea Valley roster.

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