Neuqua denies Storm upset bid

Momentum had shifted, the South Elgin crowd was going berserk and mighty Neuqua Valley was beginning to look mortal.

The Wildcats built a 16-point second quarter lead, but the South Elgin boys basketball team reinvigorated its cheering section by trimming the deficit to 4 points on senior Josh Smith's steal under the basket and subsequent layup with 3:29 to play in the third quarter.

"It wasn't anything about us; they were running great offense," Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said.

Just when the Storm seemed on the precipice of charging into the lead, however, the Wildcats regained their composure and pulled away for a 70-59 Upstate Eight Conference victory.

Kareem Amedu scored 5 points before the quarter ended - including a layup on the press break that beat the buzzer, thanks to a heady assist from Dwayne Evans - and Derek Raridon sank 3 free throws to open the fourth quarter and restore a 10-point lead.

"We got it down to 4, then they come back and scored and it seemed like our guys got down on themselves for no reason," said Jordan Dobler, who led South Elgin with 16 points. "It went downhill from there."

The differences between Neuqua Valley (21-1, 6-1) and South Elgin (10-6, 3-2) were obvious to South Elgin coach Chaz Taft.

"I thought that for us to beat a team like that it would have to be about toughness - not physical toughness - but always setting good screens, making hard cuts, hard drives," Taft said. "Those are the things that are tough: doing the right thing every single possession, doing the right things on defense every single time, like rotating to help in our man-to-man defense.

"Neuqua does those things, and that's why they're 21-1. We're not doing it on a consistent enough basis. We're just not that tough yet."

South Elgin 6-foot-9 center Dani Lopez was in foul trouble throughout the game. He picked up his fourth foul just seconds into the third quarter and didn't return until seven minutes remained in the game. He scored 7 of his 13 points in the final period. "I just tried to get in and get blocks but they were calling the fouls," Lopez said.

In Lopez's absence, Neuqua big men Amedu (18 points, 6 rebounds) and Evans (9 points, 10 rebounds) enjoyed productive games, though Amedu did miss a dunk opportunity when the ball slipped out of his grip. The post play balanced the guard play of Derek Raridon (17 points) and Rahjan Muhammad (15 points).

"(Lopez) got in some foul trouble early and that opened things up for Kareem down low," Evans said with a wide grin. "Now, if he could finish a dunk it would work out even better."