As the regular season winds down, Naperville North girls basketball travel to Naperville Central for another crosstown classic matchup. The last time these two teams met, the game went down to the wire as Central’s Erin Hackett made the game-winning shot as the Redhawks got the come-from-behind win, 45-42. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Naperville North girls basketball gets in front 9-7 early against Central
Early in the game for the Redhawks, Emily Moran finds Tessa Williams open, behind the line in the corner for the first three points of the game.
Moments later, North runs its offense as Sam Kelly hands the ball to Natalie Frempong, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier in the week as she adds three more to her total. After a fast opening minute, the game is tied up at 5-5.
Nearing the halfway mark of the quarter, the Redhawks are on offense. Moran swings the rock down low to Annabelle Kritzer attacking the basket while drawing a foul on the Huskie defense. North leads 9-7.
North jumps out to 38-22 lead going into the second half
In the closing moments of the first quarter, the North defense gets a stop and turns on the jets. Kelly finds Mia Podkasik in transition, converting on the contested layup. Going into the second quarter, North leads 22-14.
In the beginning stages of the second quarter, North looks to extend their lead by double digits. Ava Podkasik finds Frempong who takes another long-range three-ball, knocking it down. North leads 25-14.
Just over two minutes into the quarter, after recovering the loose ball, Frempong passes to Smith on the wing who attacks the basket. Smith finds Ema Gilvydis knocking down the mid-range jump shot. North leads 27-16.
With under two minutes until halftime, the Huskies still maintain a double-digit lead. Williams gets the rebound for the Redhawks, pushing the pace for their offense. Kritzer keeps the ball in play and finds Hackett who splits two defenders and gets the floater to drop while drawing the foul for the three-point play. The Redhawks trail 31-19.
Late in the quarter for Central, Moran misses the three-point attempt but the ball remains with the Redhawks as they look to capitalize. Kritzer finds Moran at the top of the key, knocking down her second three-point shot of the half. After a Huskie buzzer-beater, the Redhawks trail 38-22 going into the second half.
Naperville Central girls basketball makes it a game in the second quarter
Two minutes into the third quarter, the Redhawks are looking to go on a run to cut into the Huskie lead. Central shows good ball movement as Williams finds Hackett who knocks down the three from downtown. North leads 38-25.
On the next Huskie possession, Smith finds Anna Richards who knocks down the three-point attempt to bring the lead back up to 16, 41-25.
Minutes later for the Huskies, Frempong attacks the lane before finding Ava Podkasik near the free-throw line. Podkasik finds Gilvydis in the corner as her three-point attempt finds the bottom of the net to go up 46-32. Going into the final quarter, the Huskies lead 48-36.
To start the final quarter, the Redhawks came up with multiple defensive stops, erasing their double-digit deficit. Hackett passes the ball to Kritzer in the post. Kritzer dishes it out to the three-point line, finding Moran for a big triple to bring the lead down to five, 48-43.
After Redhawk Collette McInerney’s three drops the lead to one, the Huskies look to swing the momentum back in their favor. Kelly finds Richards wide open off the screen as she knocks down the huge three-point shot to make it a two-possession game, 52-48 with 4 minutes remaining.
Looking to put the game away for the Huskies, Ava Podkasik cuts to the basket for the layup but is blocked by Kritzer! The Redhawks look to go on another run after crawling back, Hackett throws an outlet pass to Kritzer who finds McInerney in the corner knocking down the massive three-point shot as Central trails 55-53 with just over two minutes remaining.
Naperville North girls basketball narrowly defeats Naperville Central to get above .500 in DVC play
Ensuing possession for the Huskies as the offense slows down the pace and they look to protect their lead. Richards finds Kelly who converts on the huge three-point shot to bring the lead back up to five, 58-53.
Just over a minute left in the game as the Huskies inbound the ball. Ava Podkasik swings the ball to Richards who finds Kelly open for the layup to put the game out of reach.
After knocking down some free throws, Naperville North holds on for the big win against Naperville Central, 64-55.
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