Metea Valley comes back, pulls out victory in overtime
Postseason games are still all about strategy and lineups and scouting and so many other things. However, the Metea Valley girls basketball team's 52-49 overtime win Tuesday over Yorkville in a Class 4A West Aurora regional semifinal was focused on the biggest things that drives a playoff team.
The Mustangs (16-10) simply didn't want their season to end.
But early on it looked like Metea, seeded seventh in the Oswego East sectional, might be one-and-done. The 10th-seeded Foxes (19-8) led 18-4 with 5:02 left until halftime in part because the Mustangs shot 1 of 15 from the field in the opening quarter. But Metea finished the second quarter on a 16-8 run to trail just 26-20 at the end of two quarters.
"I told them it was crucial to come out in the second with intensity," said Metea coach Cedric Williams, whose team faces No. 2-seeded Neuqua Valley at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional title. The Wildcats beat Plainfield East 53-43 in the first semifinal Tuesday.
"I said they had to play together as a team and they perservered. A light bulb went on above our heads and we came out with some passion. Give credit to Yorkville, they are a good team," he said.
A Metea shot at the buzzer ended the third quarter and another Mustangs shot with a second or two left on the clock sent the game into OT. The Foxes were up by 7 midway through the third quarter, but Taseandra Parker's shot put Metea within 31-30 at the end of 24 minutes.
The Foxes led 41-36 with 3:24 left in the game. The Mustangs cut the advantage down to 3 when Sidney Bobo put up a 3-point attempt that was good to tie the contest at 43 with just 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
"I looked at the clock, took the shot and it went in," Bobo said. "It was super-emotional after the game because as a senior it could have been your last game and we worked that much more to make sure that didn't happen. It was an emotional roller coaster, but it was a fun game."
Williams said the 3-pointer is usually not on Bobo's resume.
"She doesn't usually take that shot. But she set herself and you could see she had confidence in that shot," he said.
Overtime belong to the Mustangs. After Yorkville scored the first basket, Bobo, Parker and Lisa Logan converted consecutively on shots to put Metea up 50-45 and the team held on to play another day.
Logan led all scorers with 16 points, and she pulled down 13 rebounds. Brianna Hall had 12 points and Parker 11. The Metea defense dealt with Katie Nolan all night as she led her team with 15 points and 11 rebounds.