Playoff basketball is underway at Naperville Central High School, where the Redhawks look to defend homecourt against the East Aurora Tomcats. The Winner will face first-seed Bolingbrook in the Regional Semifinals on Wednesday. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
East Aurora boys basketball works the paint early on in the playoff contest
As both teams earn their first points of the playoffs at the free throw line, on the inbound it’s Redhawk Connor Sands laying in the first bucket on the night
The Tomcats look to work the Redhawks inside as Marcus Wallace in the paint for the easy score as we are tied up at four, three minutes into the first.
The Tomcats look to keep the scoring attack going off the inbound, and they find Jaiyon Spivey in the paint for the score.
The Redhawks look to catch the Tomcats slipping on transition defense as they find Alex Liabo for three; he comes up short. However, Sands dominates the glass as he puts it up in front of multiple Tomcat defenders for the score. Sands would finish with 10 points.
After some miscommunication on the inbound with the Tomcats, it’s Redhawk’s possession as Tj Hillman comes up with the fast break score.
The Redhawks show off their ball movement as everyone on the court gets a touch before Hillman buries the three-pointer. Redhawks lead 22 to 13 at the end of one.
Naperville Central boys basketball opens the second quarter on fire
It’s Liabo again who crosses the Tomcat defender. He says, “Why Not?” as he steps back for a three-pointer and knocks it down. Liabo would finish the night with 13 points.
The Redhawks force another Tomcat turnover. Sands is able to find Liabo and he scores down low. The Redhawk are quickly pulling ahead.
With the first half dwindling, Tomcats guard Angel Carmona flashes to the free throw line, knocking down the Tomcat’s first points this quarter.
With about 28 seconds left to go in the first half, the Tomcats find Carmona again in the corner for the three-pointer. Carmona would finish with 7 points as Central is up at the half 36 to 21.
Naperville Central dominates East Aurora and moves on in the IHSA playoffs
Sands finds Cooper Page down low for the first point of the third quarter, setting the tone for a dominant second half for Central. The first points of the second half would come from Redhawk Cooper Page on the nice layup score.
Liabo brings it across half court and finds a wide-open Sands for the knockdown three-pointer
Liabo shows off his defense of reflexes not once but twice as he picks off the Tomcats for the easy fastbreak score.
Then, the Tomcats try to get into scoring position quickly, but Liabo and Casey Cooperkawa combine for a steal. This time, Liabo finds the open man in Hillman for the easy two points on the other end
Page swings it across the court to Daniel Nussbaum, who sinks it. The Redhawks flood the scoreboard in the second half, outscoring East Aurora by 40 points! Naperville Central boys basketball win its opening playoff contest 75-39. They will play top-seeded Bolingbrook on Wednesday night.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
