Pressure helps Metea Valley overcome Kaneland
Trailing 11-0 just more than three minutes into the game, Metea Valley knew it had to increase its pressure to claw back into its game against Kaneland on Tuesday night in Aurora.
A jolt from the bench, as well as sustained pressure, proved to be the perfect catalyst to right the ship in a 78-58 nonconference victory.
Kaneland (9-6) jumped out to the early 11-point advantage behind sound press breaking and the sharp shooting of senior forward Chaon Denlinger. The 6-foot-3 senior outscored the Mustangs 12-10 by himself as Kaneland led by as many as 13 before finishing the first quarter with a 20-10 lead.
“I don’t think they expected us to come out so fast,” said Denlinger, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
Metea Valley (10-7) came out with a new sense of purpose with its full-court press in the second quarter and, paired with clutch bench contributions, the Mustangs trailed by only 2 points heading into halftime.
“Coach (Bob Vozza) kept saying not to take them for granted and we needed to play harder,” Metea Valley junior forward Milan Bojanic said. “We had a good talk at the end of the first quarter, and we stepped up the defense and got back in the game.”
The Mustangs kept the suffocating pressure on in the third quarter as they took their first lead of the game 2:34 into the third period. Metea Valley assumed control of the game when it went on to take a 53-44 lead after three quarters, which proved to be all the breathing room it needed.
“They upped the pressure and we didn’t respond well,” Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. “They did a good job of rotating traps and even their half-court pressure was bumped up a bit, and we didn’t handle that well.”
Denlinger echoed his coaches sentiments.
“Kudos to them for stepping up the pressure, but we have to be able to break a press or we can’t compete,” Denlinger said. “It’s hard to score when we can’t get the ball past half-court, and it’s hard to keep some of the hot shooters hot.”
Bojanic and junior guard Kenny Obendorf combined for 29 points, while junior guard Reysean Parker chipped in with 12 off the bench when the Mustangs needed a lift.
“Rey came off the bench and was amazing,” Bojanic said. “Our fastbreak and our defense was good after the first quarter and that got us a lot of our points, and we have a deep team.”
Frustration clearly settled in for the Knights.
“We started out real quick and Chaon hit some open shots, then they keyed on Chaon and Daniel Helm,” Johnson said. “When teams key on Chaon, we have to find other ways to score.”