Neuqua Valley goes low to finish Batavia

Todd Sutton had the grin of a young kid who had just fallen in love with basketball for the first time.

But that's how ecstatic - and relieved - the Neuqua Valley coach was after his team survived a dizzying array of 3-point bombs from Batavia to outlast the Bulldogs 74-69 Friday night and capture the Class 4A Batavia regional title.

"What a great game," Sutton said. "I mean, we played a great game, but Batavia had a 5-point lead with four minutes to go, and they played great - what a performance."

Sutton was having a hard time finding the superlatives to tack onto players from both teams after watching two of his standouts - Derek Raridon with 21 points and Dwayne Evans with 20 points and a game-high 14 rebounds - go toe-to-toe with Batavia guards Ben Potter and David Bryant, who tied for game-high honors with 27 points each.

"Our trainers were calling Bryant 'Jimmy Chitwood' from 'Hoosiers' because he was popping from everywhere," Sutton said. "What an amazing performance he put on."

Mount Bryant erupted for three 3-pointers from well beyond the arc in the closing minute of the first half, sending the Batavia crowd into a frenzy and wiping out a first half dominated by the Wildcats.

Potter did his part in the waning seconds by tossing in four free throws after a Neuqua Valley foul and technical to help Batavia enjoy a 45-43 halftime lead.

The Wildcats (29-1) went to the power of their inside game in the second half, with Evans leading the way. The 6-foot-5 junior forward took advantage of his size in finding openings along the baseline or on the low blocks to score 10 critical second-half points.

It helped offset a surge by Potter, who scored 9 points in a late third-quarter spurt that allowed Batavia (19-8) to enter the fourth quarter ahead 57-55.

The Bulldogs enjoyed their biggest lead of the night at 64-57, but Evans scored three inside baskets before a Bryant bank shot ended the run and gave Batavia a 66-63 lead.

"We haven't seen that kind of outside shooting," Evans said of Batavia's onslaught. "We've been playing great down low this entire tournament, so we went to that and were able to get it done."

With 2:52 left in the contest, Raridon banked home a long 3 to tie the score.

"That was a play we just put in at practice, and the way I was shooting tonight, nothing was going in, so I was glad it went in," Raridon said. "But I wasn't trying to bank it."

When Evans flipped in a short shot with 1:45 left, Neuqua Valley had finally snatched the lead for good at 68-66. The Bulldogs missed some last-minute 3-point attempts, and the Wildcats sealed the win at the free-throw line.

"We needed everything tonight and everyone stepped up," Sutton said. "It's back to defensive drills tomorrow, but let's give credit to Batavia because they executed their game plan perfectly."

Kareem Amedu chipped in 14 points and 6 rebounds for Neuqua Valley, while Ricky Clopton tallied 9 points and had 6 rebounds for Batavia.

Neuqua Valley advances to Tuesday night's Oswego East sectional semifinal against Plainfield North.