Boys Basketball: Naperville Central benefits from Marmion miscues
| Corey R. Minkanic~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 21, 2011 11:02PM
Manning the paint with an improved assertiveness, 6-foot-6 Naperville Central sophomore center Nick Czarnowski let the game come to him during Monday’s season opener versus Marmion at the Oswego Hoops For Healing Tournament. Czarnowski scored when he needed to and dished out to open shooters when double-teamed, leading the Redhawks to a solid 63-53 victory. “You have to adjust to every situation you’re faced with,” said Czarnowski, who scored a game-high 22 points and accrued five rebounds, two assists and three blocks. “I realized I had to find my offense first, but we really worked the ball around and my teammates found me in the right spot before I took my shot.” Czarnowski scored seven points in the first quarter as Central (1-0) jumped out to a 15-5 over the Cadets (0-1). It was Marmion senior Ryan Glasgow’s job to make Czarnowski work for his points, but Central’s unselfishness in the first half led to five open 3s — two by non-starter Nick Lopez and one each by starter Bryce Kirk and reserves Ryan Anthony and Jabari Hartfield. Hartfield scored seven of his 10 points in the second quarter. “We have confidence in each other,” Czarnowski said. “If I’m having a hard time, I’m going to throw it out to them. We have some good 3-point shooters and some guys came off the bench and really stepped up.” The Cadets, meanwhile, struggled to create offense — especially in the first half. Alex Theisen (nine points) is the only returning starter for Marmion, but Colin Kavanaugh took on the role of trying to become the team’s go-to scorer — yet wound up shooting 3-for-17 from the field. “All of us can score,” said Theisen, who also grabbed six rebounds. “We just have to work the ball around and try to find open shots.” Pete Stefanski scored 10 points and Kavanaugh and Glasgow combined for 18 points and 13 rebounds, but Marmion also turned the ball over 21 times. “Every time we climbed back in the game we turned the ball over,” said Marmion coach Ryan Paradise, who watched his team cut the lead to nine but go no closer. “Every time we made a run it stopped with turnovers. If we can sure up our ballhandling and make smarter plays I think we’ll be OK.”
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment