Defensive battle goes Neuqua's way
The Bartlett and Neuqua Valley boys basketball teams got started Saturday night with Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division competition by facing off on Neuqua's home court, and each squad didn't make life easy for their opponent.
When it was all said and done, the Wildcats had prevailed 61-50 to improve to 5-0. However, Bartlett (3-2) made Neuqua earn it.
“We're pretty good on offense. They're very good on offense. It was more of a defensive battle. The teams were getting after it, knocking people to the floor. It was a struggle to score tonight,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said.
It was all Hawks at the start as they led 9-3 with 5:40 left in the first quarter thanks to a 3-point basket each by Matt Chaltin and Femi Oyewole. Bartlett was 4 of 6 from 3-point range in the first quarter with both players sinking two apiece. The Hawks finished with 7 on the night, with Chaltin hitting 4. He finished with a team-high 16 poiints. Oyewole finished with 9 points, as did Ryan Roszkowiak.
“Our offense is designed to penetrate, and I thought Neuqua Valley did a really nice job in the first half of staying in front of the ball,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “Our rule in our offense is that we take what the defense gives us.”
The Wildcats finished on a 7-0 run to close out the opening quarter to lead 23-16 courtesy of two free throws by Jim Stocki and a three-point play by Pat Kenny.
Neuqua's lead extended to double digits in the second quarter on a three-point play by Alex Karkazis with 6:19 left that made it 28-16. However, the Hawks went on a 6-0 run to close out the quarter and trailed Neuqua Valley just 33-30 at halftime.
Sutton thought Karkazis got better as the game went on as did the Neuqua Valley offense, which also included a 9-point performance from Sam Johsnon.
“(Karkazis) missed a lot of layups in the first half, but he made up for it in the second half. I thought he played really well. Pat Kenny played great, nice points off of the bench,” the Neuqua coach said.
As for the offense. . .
“There was no balance first half. In the second half we got a lot more guys involved,” Sutton said.
And that second-half balance showed as Neuqua led 45-37 after three quarters. Bartlett still had some fight left in it and cut the advantage down to four, but Neuqua led by double digits or close to it the majority of the final eight minutes.
“I thought we did a bad job holding our composure during key points of the game,” Wolfsmith said. “There were some calls our kids got frustrated with and instead of just playing through them, they kind of let it affect them. We talked about having composure on the road.
“I think it was 25-4 in free throws. We have to stop fouling the shooters and getting more free throws ourselves. I think that's part of our inexperience right now.”
Bartlett was 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, Neuqua 19 of 25.