In black and white, a good night for Naperville

For one magical Friday night Oswego East morphed into Naperville West.

Lines of boys basketball fans representing Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central formed outside the building before the gates even opened. When they finally did open, the gymnasium turned into a flood of black and white.

On one side was the Neuqua Valley student section, glad to take on the role of the Dark Side in their black tops. On the opposite side stood an equally impressive group of Redhawks students clad in white.

More than 2,000 fans jammed into the gym, some standing in the balcony above. Others were left outside, unable to purchase a ticket due to the sellout.

Everyone in town, it seemed, wanted to witness the game of the season - No. 1 seed Neuqua Valley (31-1) taking on No. 2 Naperville Central (27-3) in a cross-town battle for the Class 4A Oswego East sectional championship.

All season long this was the matchup people wanted to see. It took 30 games and more than three months to arrive, but it was well worth the wait as Neuqua Valley pulled out a 62-55 come-from-behind win.

"What an atmosphere," said Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton. "Forget college, forget pros. High school basketball is the greatest. This is what it's about. It's about kids, it's about schools and obviously about one great community in Naperville. They got to enjoy this tonight - great for the community."

The place erupted as the players took the court for pregame warmups. It didn't quiet down until well after the game ended, and well after the Neuqua Valley student section swarmed the court to celebrate the program's second straight sectional title.

So much pent up energy went into the game. Ever since the pairings were announced folks eyed this showdown. And because the programs didn't play in the regular season, anticipation mushroomed as the game drew closer.

"It was amazing, it's just hard to believe this is the last time I'll be doing this," said Redhawks senior guard Danny Ondik. "It was great having all that support, but it's hard feeling like we let everyone down. We all wanted this so bad."

Losing in a sectional title game is tough enough. Losing to a rival is something completely different.

As Neuqua Valley trailed throughout the game - by as many as 10 points midway through the third quarter - the thought of losing a cross-town game kicked in a sense of urgency with the Wildcats.

"We really wanted to play them," said Wildcats junior Rahjan Muhammad. "To play your rival and get a win, it's great. It would have been a huge letdown if we lost. We just had to keep playing hard and make sure we won."

For the Wildcats it's on to bigger and hopefully better things as they face Dundee-Crown in Tuesday's Northern Illinois University supersectional in DeKalb.

A win would send the program to its first state semifinal appearance, so expect another exhilarating atmosphere.

Nothing, though, is likely to match the electricity of Friday's cross-town classic at Naperville West.

"You couldn't ask for a better atmosphere," said Wildcats senior Derek Raridon. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of it."

kschmit@dailyherald.com