Boys Basketball: Czarnowski Stars in Naperville Central's Win

With leading scorer David Niggins unable to make it to school Tuesday because of  illness, Naperville Central’s boys basketball team had to turn the reigns over to a freshman.

Freshman center Nick Czarnowski responded with a career-high 21 points, leading the host Redhawks to a 56-48 non-conference win over Plainfield East on Tuesday night. The win pushes Central closer to the .500 mark (8-9). The Redhawks have won five of their last six games.

“I told Czar, ‘You’re going to have to get it done tonight,’ ” Central coach Pete Kramer said. “He had to be strong down low, and he was. He did a nice job. He’s progressed nicely. It’s very good for him. It’s very good for the team.”

The only lead Plainfield East (8-7) could muster was 3-0, when the Bengals’ Jawan Straughter opened the game with a three-pointer. Then, Czarnowski went to work. He scored the final eight Redhawks points of the first quarter.

“Feeling like I was the main post presence down there, we tried to establish that early and we did a really nice job of that,” Czarnowski said. “We established that we could do that, and everything else really opened up.”

Indeed, in the second quarter, the Redhawks took advantage of the extra attention Czarnowski was drawing in the post and built a 23-11 lead from the outside. Reserve guard David Haywood opened the second with a three-pointer and Mike Schremp hit two three-pointers in the quarter. Central held a 25-17 lead at the break.

The Redhawks held a 42-32 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Bengals finally started to warm up. Deontre Brown hit four three-pointers down the stretch, one of which cut the Central lead to 42-38 with 2:39 left. But Central did just enough damage from the free-throw line down the stretch to keep the Bengals at arm’s length. Central attempted 30 more free throws than Plainfield East in the game.

Niggins started feeling ill during practice Monday, so he went home to get some rest, according to Kramer. On Tuesday, he was hung up with a fever over 100 degrees and couldn’t even make it to school. That forced the Redhawks to have to adjust on the fly without their star player.

“I knew that we’d really have to pick it up offensively and we’d all have to work harder because he’s a good rebounder and a really good offensive and defensive rebounder for us,” Czarnowski said. “I thought everybody did a great job of pulling together and carrying their load.”

But the story was Czarnowski’s coming-out party. He led the team with 21 points, nine rebounds and two steals.

“He’s pretty skilled,” Kramer said. “He’s played a lot of basketball. What’s exciting about it is that he’s only going to get better. He’s got a big upside.”