Naperville Central girls basketball upsets Neuqua Valley behind Trinity Jones eclipsing 500 points in her high school career. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
It is Teacher Appreciation Night at Naperville Central and it’s a DVC battle between the Redhawks and the Neuqua Valley Wildcats who are undefeated in the conference.
Both teams trading blows
The Redhawks start the game up 2-0. Natalie Jordan passes to Erin Hackett who swings it over to Trinity Jones and she knocks down the 3-pointer. They lead 5-0 at the start of the first quarter.
The Wildcats look to respond. Caitlin Washington kicks it to Zoe Navarro and she buries the triple.
Neuqua is making up ground as Kylee Norkus finds Washington in the corner and she sinks another trey to put them ahead 6-5.
Later in the first, Washington is on the drive and she drops it off to Tia Poulakidas. She converts on the left-handed layup.
Trinity Jones looks to pass it, but the ball is deflected and Navarro gets the steal. She dribbles up the court and bounces it to Kylee Norkus who fights through the defense to score the bucket.
Naperville Central girls basketball is looking to fight back with some ball movement. It’s Erin Hackett catching the pass and she splashes the corner three. We’re tied at 14 at the end of one.
Poulakidas and Norkus put the Wildcats ahead
Going into the 2nd quarter, Neuqua Valley wants to break the tie and it does so as Caitlin Washington fires a cross-court pass to Nalia Clifford who knocks it down from behind the arc.
Later on, Michayla Stone has it in the post. She has it knocked away, but she gets it back and finds Tia Poulakidas. She gets the friendly bounce on the tear drop.
More from Poulakidas, but this time she passes out of the zone defense to a wide-open Kylee Norkus and that’s nothing but net from three. The Wildcats lead 19-16.
To cap off the second, Poulakidas finds Norkus again and it’s same spot, same result. Neuqua holds onto a 30-27 lead at halftime.
Central fighting back
Jumping into the 3rd quarter, we see some good ball movement again by Central and Erin Hackett ties the game with this triple.
The Redhawks are on the attack again as Callie Tumilty misses the layup, but Trinity Jones makes up for it with a strong rebound and putback. They’re on top by one.
Hackett and Jones help seal the deal
Into the fourth quarter, Caitlin Washington drives and dishes to Nalia Clifford who banks in the short jumper on the block.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the night belongs to the Redhawks who got key baskets from Erin Hackett and Trinity Jones, including this putback by Jones. She goes over 500 points on the season as Naperville Central ends Neuqua’s perfect DVC record.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
