Motivated Neuqua bounces back
It wasn't so much Neuqua Valley and Derek Raridon adjusting to Highland Park's defense. More like Raridon taking advantage of Highland Park's adjustment.
Limited to 4 first-half points by Eric Manpearl's defense as the chaser in the box-and-1, Raridon was freer to score when Highland Park shifted to 2-3 and 1-2-2 zone defenses.
Raridon hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter of Neuqua Valley's 73-56 win Monday in first-day action at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.
"When they switched from box-and-1 back to just a regular zone we knew things would be more open. It's a lot tougher when you've got a guy chasing you around the whole time," said Raridon, just ahead of Dwayne Evans' 13 in the Wildcats' scoring column.
Coming off its sole loss, 74-70 to East Aurora in overtime on Saturday, and recalling last year's second-round loss to the Giants at last year's Elgin tourney, Neuqua Valley (9-1) was ready.
"Last game served definitely as motivation," Evans said, "because losing a tough game like that, especially during conference, you want to come out strong the next game."
Despite Neuqua dominating the rebounds start to finish - 33 to 14 including 16 offensive boards - Highland Park (2-6) played neck and neck with the Wildcats early into the second half.
Led by slender 6-foot-6 Marin Kukoc, who scored a game-high 21 points, the Giants hung within 19-17 after a quarter and crept within 33-31 on 2 of Brad Schwartz's 13 points at 7:15 of the third quarter.
Raridon and Evans then combined for a personal 8-2 run, and when 6-foot-5 Kareem Amedu scored inside it was 48-37 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
"We just found a few cracks in their defense," said Neuqua coach Todd Sutton. "There weren't many, Not for Derek."
Neuqua took a 55-44 lead into the fourth quarter and stayed hot, shooting 17 of 26 from the floor in the second half. Eleven of the 13 Wildcats who played scored, including the entire second rotation of Drew Sutton, Steve Waeghe, Ryan Wagner, Christian Shonkwiler and Matt Reed.
"We tried to just mix some things up and tried to keep them off balance, but they had guys come in and hit shots," said Highland Park coach Paul Harris. "That's the sign of a good team when they have different guys who can step up and perform."