Playing word games
Neuqua Valley's players were all smiles after Thursday's Upstate Eight Conference game with Bartlett, except for maybe an unlucky one or two who weren't quick enough to get at the postgame pizza.
But halftime of the boys basketball game with the visiting Hawks (12-6, 4-2) was another story. Senior guard Anton Wilkins said the team had some "motivational" talks about how they needed to play a better second half, especially after it took a rally from a 7-point deficit just to draw even at the break.
Whatever was said turned out to spark the Wildcats into a 14-0 charge to open the half and a 25-point outburst in the third quarter that ended with Neuqua on top by 15. The visiting Hawks still made a late run at the hosts before coming up short 66-61.
"We had a little inspirational talk here in the locker room at halftime," said Wilkins, who nailed a trio of 3-pointers in the big third quarter and finished with 14 points in the contest. "The coaches are always good with motivational speeches. Let's just say whatever they said definitely put a spark in all of us."
Wildcat Nolan Brown opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer off a kickout from center Dan Pawelski. Wilkins followed with a 3, and when Derek Raridon then added a backdoor layup, Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith burned a timeout to try and regroup from a quick 8-0 Wildcats blitz.
But Wilkins hit another 3 and Raridon another layup as the Hawks fell behind 46-32 before guard Marc Little finally ended the 14-0 run by hitting a short jumper midway through the fourth quarter.
"It was a four-minute run," Wolfsmith said. "It was two really good basketball teams battling, but it came down to that four-minute run. They can shoot the ball and we left Wilkins open and he just daggered us."
Neuqua improved to 12-4 on the year and 5-1 in the UEC in large part because it shot a blistering 10 of 13 in the third quarter and wound up with seven players scoring at least 7 points on the night. But the Wildcats also played better man-to-man defense in the second half and didn't let Little get to the basket as often as he had earlier in the game.
"The third quarter was obviously fantastic," Neuqua coach Todd Sutton said. "We had good shooting and we executed. But it was defense that led to our easy opportunities."
The 6-foot-8 Pawelski had a nice battle underneath with the Hawks' 6-9 Kamil Janton. Pawelski finished with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, but just as importantly he often found the open man when he was doubled down low. Janton, meanwhile, had 11 points, 12 boards and blocked a shot for Bartlett, which closed the game with a 10-3 run to make the final score a little closer.
Cory Hrynyk hit two of his three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for the Hawks to finish with 15 points. Little, who had 8 points in the first quarter, finished with 10 points. Sophomore Dwayne Evans gave the Wildcats a boost off the bench with 7 points and 9 rebounds.