Neuqua tops Fremd at Elgin tourney

Defense and depth put Neuqua Valley in position to win its second title in three years at the 34th annual Elgin Holiday boys basketball tournament.

The Wildcats' pressure forced 25 turnovers and their reserves scored 13 of 24 second-quarter points as they went on to an 84-49 semifinal win over Fremd on Friday night at Chesbrough Fieldhouse.

"We're deep and we can rely on anybody coming off the bench," said Neuqua junior Dewayne Evans, who scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter. "They usually open up the lead and there isn't really a letdown."

Senior Christian Shonkwiler helped open things up for the Wildcats (11-1) as they reached today's 8 p.m. title game against Glenbrook South (8-4), which beat Hoffman Estates 50-48 in overtime.

The 6-foot-2 senior scored 8 of his 10 points as Neuqua extended a 15-13 lead to 35-22 at halftime.

"All he does is hustle and make plays," coach Todd Sutton said in admiration of one of the keys to the Wildcats' success.

"Myself and a bunch of people on the bench all want to go out and give a spark," Shonkwiler said, "and continue the good play for the starters and people who are tired.

"We try to keep up the intensity, especially on defense."

Which eventually led to 28 points off turnovers and finally put Neuqua in command in the third quarter. Rahjan Muhammad (13 points) hit three 3-pointers and Evans' 4-point play increased the lead to 64-33.

"We were working hard on defense but we weren't getting rewarded until the second half," Sutton said after the Wildcats hit 10 of their first 11 shots after intermission to finish at 53.7 percent from the field (29-for 54).

"I felt like we kept stopping our own runs," Evans said. "The first half everybody was kind of out of rhythm but the defense was definitely in sync."

Fremd (3-8) saw its 3-game winning streak end in its latest test against a brutal schedule that has included Waukegan, Warren, Jacobs, Hoffman and Conant.

"They're a very nice team with a lot of offensive weapons," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski of Neuqua. "We've played a lot of good teams and they're right up there with them."

Chris Klimek had 14 points and 9 rebounds and Charlie Rosenberg had 8 points and 6 rebounds for Fremd, which will play Hoffman for third at 6:30 p.m.

"The first quarter we did a nice job of staying solid," Widlowski said. "Those turnovers really compounded and it was difficult for us to keep them in the half-court."