Metea Valley upends Lake Park
Metea Valley now understands how Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball operates.
Forcing 26 Lake Park turnovers 18 in the first half the host Mustangs on Saturday led by as many as 18 points before Lake Park cut it to 1.
Metea held on for a 68-63 decision in Aurora, the first of what should be many UEC Valley Division victories for the Mustangs.
“The fourth quarter and the second half of the third quarter is what this conference is going to be about,” said Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza, whose squad went 22-3 on the JV level last season. “It's kind of us digging down. We're going to be put in position to make good decisions, and if we do that we'll be successful.”
Lake Park (4-2, 0-1), trailed 32-14 midway through the second quarter but rallied within 64-63 with 24 seconds left in the game, capping a 9-1 run on Eric Eichholz's running one-hander.
Seven seconds later Metea's Sean Davis hit a pair of free throws, and Metea Valley (4-1, 1-0) ended the game how it began with Mustangs guard Ryan Solomon stealing a pass. LaShawn Cargo made two free throws with one second left for the final score.
“Last year we played JV teams, it's not as competitive as it is now,” said Cargo, who scored a game-high 21 points. “So we had to just learn from this first game to see how it's going to be down the stretch in a game. Next game we'll be ready for that.”
Lake Park will be, too. Rest assured.
Coming off the title of Fenton's Thanksgiving tournament and a win Tuesday over rival Schaumburg, the Lancers committed 11 first-quarter turnovers. Metea's Solomon, Milan Bojanic and Kenny Obendorf caught them flat-footed defensively to post a 20-9 lead after one quarter.
“I think we came out bringing the pressure and they weren't ready for it,” said Solomon, who scored 14 points with Bojanic adding 13. “It turned out the first quarter, first half we got a lot of easy steals, easy breaks to get some fast points on the board.”
“I think our kids took them light,” Lake Park coach Josh Virostko noted, “and I think Metea took advantage of it and kicked our butt, really got in our face and earned the game. And our kids weren't ready for it. That's on me, too.”
Lake Park never led but started turning the tables with 6-foot-5 Zack Wagner inside. The Lancers crept within 40-30 by halftime.
Bojanic's short bank shot had Metea leading 50-33 at 5:20 of the third quarter when Lancers sophomore Carlos Cortez hit a pair of 3s to ignite another comeback. The hole, though, was too deep.
“Didn't come out ready,” said Wagner, whose 15 points were second on Lake Park to Dominique Spencer's 16. “It shows a lot that we can come back like that. But it's upsetting that we lost.”