Doody, Neuqua stun Wheaton North in OT
Megan Doody made it clear.
This was not just a hot-shooting night, her and Neuqua Valley a one-hit wonder.
“My confidence is definitely so much higher than last year,” said the Wildcats junior, “and I got a good team that has my back.”
But back to that shot.
Doody's fallaway 3-pointer from the right corner as time expired in regulation forced overtime with Wheaton North at the Hinsdale South Tip-Off Tournament. Doody scored a career-high 30 points with seven 3-pointers and Neuqua knocked off the No. 6 Falcons 66-64 Friday in Darien.
Neuqua trailed 58-55 with 2.8 seconds left in regulation when Doody took the inbounds pass, took a couple dribbles and heaved it up and in.
“We didn't have a timeout, so we had to kind of think on our feet,” Doody said. “I just called out to the girls to set a double screen, set something up. I got the ball, just dribbled to the corner and pulled up. I felt kind of starstruck.”
Doody's seventh 3-pointer gave Neuqua its first lead and the lead for good at 61-60 with 3:38 left in overtime. Doody earlier hit one from deep to pull the Wildcats within a point with 59 seconds left in regulation.
“It's her time, without question,” Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. “She's been through the ringer, her and Amber (Smith). It's their time to shine.”
Neuqua won just 10 games last year but looked like a different team in Friday's opener. For one thing the Wildcats played six freshmen Friday.
In overtime Neuqua had on the floor Doody, junior Amber Smith, senior Alexa Wilde, a freshman and a sophomore. Smith had 8 points and 7 rebounds and Wilde 8 boards for Neuqua.
Williams sounds like a kid who thinks he has a treat under the Christmas tree but doesn't want anyone to know it just yet.
“These freshmen don't know any better,” he said, “and that's a good thing. The older kids do know better; that's a good thing, too. We're gonna be cautious, but we're excited. A win like this is huge.”
Defending DuPage Valley Conference champion Wheaton North, with four starters back and a big transfer in Sydney Sharkey aboard, scored the game's first seven points and led 38-29 at halftime. Neuqua pulled even at 45-45 after three quarters, but a Fantasia Vine free throw had Wheaton North ahead 54-47 with 4:47 left.
Vine, who scored 21 points with five 3-pointers, had one last chance in overtime after Doody split two free throws with 6.3 seconds left.
Vine took it up the court herself, a 25-footer for the win hitting the front of the rim.
“Like I told the team afterward,” Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said, “even if Fantasia's ball does bounce in we still got some bigger problems than winning or losing that game.
“I don't think we played well at all. You gotta give credit to Neuqua they took us out of what we wanted to do. But we didn't play well.”
Sharkey had 8 points and 9 steals, and Maddie Baillie scored 13 points for the Falcons. Wheaton North was outrebounded 36-26, gave up 20 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 31 times.
“We didn't box out, we didn't get the rebounds and that's something we take pride in,” Eaton said. “We've worked harder in practice than we played tonight. I don't know if it's first-game jitters, but we're not happy with how we played tonight.”