Inconsistency haunts Neuqua

Neuqua Valley was bitten by the inconsistency bug Wednesday that's been its major problem the entire girls basketball season.

After jumping to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter, the Wildcats fell behind at the end of the period, played catchup all night and then faded in the fourth quarter, losing to visiting Geneva 58-46.

"We were flying out and getting steals and playing hard defense in the first quarter," said Beth Goldberg, who led the Wildcats with 17 points. "Then we just slowed down and our defense got lazy."

A 3-pointer by Taylor Whitley with 20 seconds to go in the first quarter gave the Vikings (16-5) a 15-14 lead.

"During the timeout when we were down, coach told us we had to get in the flow and we did that and got back in the game," said Whitley, who finished with a game-high 25 points and came up with 7 steals. "We came out in a 2-3 man press and it wasn't working. So we just went to a man-to-man denial defense and played really tough."

After falling 7 points behind in the second quarter, the Wildcats (10-12) fought back and tied the score at 27-27 just before halftime on a 3-pointer by Courtney Palicka.

They took the lead midway through the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Goldberg, but Geneva outscored them 10-2 the rest of the period, with Sam Scofield hitting two baskets and Whitely hitting the third of our four 3-pointers.

"We were able to exploit their matchup zone," said Geneva coach Gina Nolan. "Our guards stayed composed and we used baseline runners and lots of cutters and the kids found them with good passes. We were also shooting well from the outside."

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Neuqua struck first, closing the gap to 4 on Danielle Davis' basket. But that's about all the Wildcats had left in the tank as the Vikings pulled away at the end with Whitley scoring 9 points in the final period to help ice the victory.

"If we could get that consistency, we could be one of the best teams around," Goldberg said. "We've had spurts against some of the best teams, but we're inconsistent, sometimes from quarter to quarter."

"We exerted so much energy trying to get close. We seemed to take our breath on defense rather than offense," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams. "We'd get close and then lose some intensity. But Geneva did a great job. They moved the ball well."

Vikings sophomore center Lauren Wicinski hurt the Wildcats all night, both with her outside shooting and her work on the boards.

In only her third start of the season, Wicinski scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

"Lauren's been playing big minutes off the bench," Nolan said. "She's already had a bunch of double-doubles. She's got a nice shot and she's obviously a rebounding force for us. Taylor shot well from the outside tonight. She's always a threat either shooting or driving, and she can find the open person. She's a great all-around player."