Neuqua Valley wears Elgin crown

Midway through the third quarter Neuqua Valley seemed to be cruising toward a fourth straight double-digit victory in the 34th annual Elgin Holiday boys basketball tournament.

It's not supposed to be that easy to win tournament titles. It wasn't, as early in the fourth quarter the Wildcats were trailing Glenbrook South for the first time in Saturday night's championship game at Chesbrough Fieldhouse.

But the Wildcats responded like the champions they would become for the second time in three years at Elgin with an 11-point run to claim a 69-61 victory.

"I had a lot of confidence in our team," said Neuqua junior all-tourney pick Dwayne Evans after scoring 6 of his team-high 19 points in the decisive run and grabbing 9 rebounds.

"We want to not only win championships but learn how to win championships," said Neuqua coach Todd Sutton. "That's two so far, but we have a few more to go.

"Our guys just made huge plays. The only way you're going to win a championship is with guys making big plays."

Neuqua (12-1) overcame a monster first half when 6-foot-9 Notre Dame-signee Jack Cooley scored 20 of his 24 points and a torrid second half when Ryan Hopkins hit four 3-pointers for Glenbrook South (8-5).

Hopkins' shooting keyed the Titans' rally from a 46-33 deficit to a 56-53 lead with 6:09 to play.

"That's how it usually happens," said Cooley, who was 10 for 15 from the field, had 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. "If I score all the points we usually don't do well. The ball needs to be distributed for us to do well."

But after a left-lane drive by Evans, Cooley wasn't feeling well and had to come out for 11/2 minutes. Neuqua took advantage with inside baskets by Evans, Nolan Brown and Kareem Amedu off an offensive rebound tip pass by all-tourney pick Derek Raridon with Cooley off to the side vomiting.

"When the big man left," Raridon said of the start of a run toward a 64-56 lead, "that opened up a lot more things down low."

The Titans got within 64-61 but Hopkins missed a tying 3 with 50 seconds left. Evans, Raridon and Brown combined for 5-for-6 free-throw shooting in the final 31 seconds.

"It definitely helps our confidence knowing we can pull away in close games," Raridon said.