Kaneland extends win streak to 15 with gritty victory over Naperville Central

NAPERVILLE — Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe knew that his team didn’t bring its best stuff against Naperville Central on Tuesday night.

From not getting close to their 69.8 points per game, to not playing the best on the glass, there were a lot of aspects that the coach in his 19th year coaching a Knights basketball team knows they could clean up.

But even if it wasn’t the best night for the Knights, it was enough to get a 50-39 victory over the Redhawks on the road.

And for Colombe, that’s something he couldn’t be more proud about.

“The nice thing about this team is that we’re finding multiple ways to win,” Colombe said. “There’s nights where we’re putting up 90 points, and some where we put up 50 and win. We’re finding ways to win no matter what the situation is, and that’s going to be good for us in the long run.

The win marked the Knights' 15th consecutive victory, the largest such streak since Colombe took over as the boys coach back in 2019.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a win streak like this before, but it feels nice,” Kaneland senior Freddy Hassan said. “We’ve got to keep it going, can’t get complacent. We’ve got to take every game seriously play like it’s our last.”

Kaneland (16-1) had its best moments come in the closing moments of the game. After taking a timeout holding a 43-37 lead with 4:01 left in the game, the Knights ended up locking down on defense, going on a 7-2 run to end the game.

“We got them to take a couple shots, played some solid defense without fouling and then we’re able to capitalize and score at the other end and extend the lead,” Colombe said. “And it was good to see, that we executed down the stretch.”

Leading the way for the Knights in the scoring department was junior Marshawn Cocroft, who had 15 points in the contest while shooting 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Alongside him, Hassan scored 11 points to go alongside 11 rebounds for a double-double. And while he knew he didn’t play his best offensively, Hassan knew that he needed to stay aggressive in the paint on defense.

“Even when I don’t play good, I try my best to make sure I stay aggressive on defense because I know I can help my team a lot on defense,” Hassan said. “Whether it’s getting in passing lanes, keeping my hands up, blocking shots, rebounding, or just trying to get the ball in transition.”

After entering halftime trailing 26-16, Naperville Central (7-11) managed to work the margin down to as little as three points in the third quarter, as well as bringing the gap down to four points in the fourth quarter.

While the Redhawks didn’t get the shots to fall when they wanted late in the game, head coach Mike Wilson said he was still proud of the team’s effort to stay in the game, especially against a team with more size and length like Kaneland.

“It’s something that I’ve seen from the team all season long,” Wilson said. “Where we want to be this season is keeping these games close and hoping that we can make those tough shots in the last few minutes. And we just couldn’t hit those shots in this game.”

Leading the Redhawks in scoring was senior Alex Laibo, who finished with 11 points. But it was senior Alex Kuta, who came off the bench and scored nine points, who really stood out in Wilson’s eyes.

“His minutes are kind of spotty, and he doesn’t exactly know where he’s going to fit in at all times because we ask him to do so much,” Wilson said. “But for him to hit some difficult shots, especially in the second half there, I was really impressed with the minutes he gave us off the bench.”