Central, winning streak reunite vs. North

Naperville Central's Catherine Tanck rejects a shot attempt by Naperville North's Tracy Smith on Thursday at North. The Redhawks improved to 3-1 in conference play.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/For The Sun)

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It can't really be called a winning streak, but Naperville Central will take it.

After downing rival Naperville North 73-40 on Thursday night, the Redhawks have won consecutive games for the first time since November.

"Recently it's been we win and then we lose, win and then lose," said Central guard Kelley Hendrick, who scored a game-high 26 points. "Finally we've gotten two wins in a row. Maybe this is our turnaround point. Because we are the best team in the conference. We just have to show people we are."

Central (8-7, 3-1 DuPage Valley Conference) hadn't played since beating Hononegah on Dec. 30 in the final day of the Dundee-Crown holiday tournament. But the Redhawks showed no rust in jumping out to a 22-6 first-quarter lead against the Huskies (2-12, 1-3).

Sophomore Emma Ondik hit a pair of 3-pointers early to spark the Redhawks, who played the final 4:24 of the quarter without Hendrick after she picked up her second foul.

North opened the second scoring the first seven points to make it 22-13. But Hendrick re-entered and the Redhawks rattled off a 17-3 streak to end the half.

"We came out in a press so we could get at them really early and get the lead up in the first couple quarters," said Ondik, who scored 11 points and added six steals. "Our strategy was to come out strong, and that's what we did. I think we did pretty good."

The Redhawks continued stretching their lead in the second half, even after sitting their starters midway through the third. Ten players ended up scoring for Central, which began a stretch of 12 games in 23 days.

"We talked before the game about playing as well as we can play," Central coach Andy Nussbaum. "We have not always started games well. Our execution was probably as good as it has been all season, and yet it's what it was supposed to be. So I'm pretty pleased with the way we played. And I'd like it to become a habit."

The Huskies, who hadn't played a game for more than two weeks, at times showed some fight. But their stretch to open the second quarter was the only time they threatened to keep it close. They trailed from the outset and were outscored 11-0 to end the first after Hendrick went out.

Haley Krentz led North with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

"We've been taking steps forward and the first half was a huge step back," North coach Jacquie Discipio said. "We did not look like ourselves. We lacked chemistry. I saw no team dynamic tonight and that really hurt us."