Quintin Wiencek delivers 29 points in Plainfield North’s win over Naperville Central

PLAINFIELD – Except for one stretch at the end of the second quarter Wednesday, Plainfield North turned in a dominant performance on offense and defense.

Led by Quintin Wiencek’s 29 points, the Tigers captured a 69-49 nonconference win over Naperville Central.

Wiencek, a 6-foot-4 senior, was hard to contain anywhere on the floor, making six 3-pointers. He also did a lot of his damage under the hoop, where he made five baskets, including three with his left hand. He also added four rebounds and a blocked shot.

“I don’t know if that [29 points] is a season high for me or not,” Wiencek said. “I don’t really keep track of how many points I score. If I am open, I take the shot, and my teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open with some great passes.

“Around the basket, I have been working on my left hand a lot. It helps to be able to use both hands because I can keep the ball away from the defense. I try to shoot 3-pointers left-handed in practice, too, but the coaches tell me to stop.”

Wiencek got the Tigers (10-9) off to a good start, making both a short jumper and a 3-pointer for a quick 5-0 lead. Teammate Lukas Alvarez added another basket to put North ahead 7-0 before Naperville Central went on a 10-2 run, sparked by five points from Alex Liabo, to take a 10-9 lead, which was the only time the Redhawks (7-13) led.

Plainfield North answered with a basket by Pierre Pointer (13 points), another 3-pointer by Wiencek and a basket by Sam Finn to take a 16-10 lead en route to a 19-16 edge at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers poured it on early in the second quarter, beginning the period on a 13-2 spurt to hold a 32-18 lead after a basket by Joe Charbonneau off an assist from AJ Evans.

Naperville Central got hot before halftime, scoring the final 10 points of the first half, capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by TJ Hillman (10 points). The Redhawks' Nate Abrahamson scored all of his team-high 11 points in the first half.

“We did a good job defensively, except for that 10-0 run in the second quarter,” Plainfield North coach Bob Krahulik said. “In the second half, we picked up the defense a little bit and were able to get out and run. Besides that 10-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half, we held them under 40. We’ll take that in any game.

“When ‘Q’ is on fire like he was tonight, he is hard to stop. It wasn’t a surprise to see him go left-handed near the hoop. He is great with his left hand.”

Naperville Central opened the second half with a basket by Casey Cooperkawa to cut the lead to 32-30, but that was as close as the Redhawks got.

Plainfield North outscored the Redhawks 25-10 the rest of the quarter to take a 57-42 lead into the fourth. Wiencek had 13 points in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play. He then added eight points in the fourth before being pulled.

Devin Ashiru finished with eight points for the Tigers, while Alvarez had seven. Finn led with six rebounds, and Ashiru added five.

“We are in a part of our schedule where we feel like we can make a little run,” Krahulik said. “If we continue to play like we are capable, then that should give us a boost of confidence the rest of the season.”