Harvard recruit Cameron Dougherty is a known commodity in water polo. He’s a two-time defending state champion for Naperville Central.
The pool, however, will have to wait.
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His preferred sport was pure background Friday night as the senior guard/forward set his sights on getting the Redhawks to the sectional semifinals in basketball.
“My goal since the beginning of the year,” he said, “was I wanted to miss as much water polo as possible.”
The 6-foot-6 Dougherty made those possibilities come to life against crosstown rival Naperville North. He had 22 points and seven rebounds in leading the host Redhawks to a 45-32 victory in the Class 4A Naperville Central Regional championship game.
Dougherty scored 14 points in the second half for the third-seeded Redhawks (22-10), who advanced to a 7 p.m. Wednesday semifinal in the Addison Trail Sectional against second-seeded Glenbard East.
Senior center Chris Conway supported Dougherty with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots Friday as Naperville Central captured its first regional title since 2009.
The Redhawks also swept the three-game season series with the Huskies.
Senior point guard Myles Barry scored 12 points and contributed six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Loras recruit scored six straight points to pull Naperville North (14-17) within 31-27.
Dougherty and Conway, however, combined to convert 10 of 12 free throws in the final 4:21.
Conway’s dunk with 1:29 remaining extended Naperville Central’s lead to 39-29. That provided the exclamation point.
“This one stings,” Barry said. “Naperville Central is a really good team, and their size and length definitely presented some difficulties for us.
“I liked the shots we were getting. We had some good looks, especially in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately we just could not get them to fall.”
Junior forward Grant Johnson scored eight points for Naperville North. Riley Thompson and Liam Kim each added five.
Naperville Central led 18-17 at halftime.
“For the most part, I thought we did a great job of controlling the tempo,” Dougherty said. “In a state playoff game, tempo is so important because the games tend to be low scoring.
“I thought we did a great job of playing our game.”
Dougherty concluded a standout seven-point effort in the third quarter by draining a 3-pointer for a 27-20 lead.
“I had some good looks,” said Dougherty, who scored eight points in the first quarter. “In the second quarter, I did not score. In an important game, that could hurt because I am the leading scorer on the team.”
Junior guard Kyle Baskin was the only other player who scored for Naperville Central, finishing with six points.
Baskin’s drive put the Redhawks up 29-21 to start the fourth quarter and get Naperville Central’s seniors closer to a home-court celebration.
“It means so much, especially being a senior, in my last home game, to bring home a regional championship,” Conway said.
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Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.