Neuqua Valley doesn't back down

Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams was looking for a little more intensity from his team after disappointing losses to Naperville Central and Bartlett the previous week.

The Wildcats answered his call en route to a 48-41 nonconference win over visiting Glenbard West on Tuesday night.

Down 24-17 midway through the second quarter, Neuqua Valley (15-4) didn't let the Glenbard West lead get any higher, closing the half with an 11-2 run.

"We came in and matched their intensity," Williams said. I thought tonight was the first time were I saw our team meet adversity head on and not back down. We were down nine points and could have easily folded, but we didn't do that."

The success of the Wildcats' zone defense played a significant role in Tuesday night's victory.

"We've had to change our zone concept a little bit because right now we don't have the size to match up against other teams," Williams said. "We went to a 1-3-1 to give us some pressure up top. We knew that for the second half of the season, we'd have to change it up a little bit just to match the defense with our personnel."

Glenbard West (8-10) closed the first quarter with a 7-0 run and a 16-9 lead thanks to 3-pointers from Lauren Davis and Bridget Flanagan.

The Hilltoppers led 24-17 before the aforementioned 11-2 run by the Wildcats began. A Niki Lazar bucket, followed by five straight points from Malia Smith tied the game at 24 apiece. Neuqua Valley took the lead for good at 28-26 with a minute to go in the first half.

"It was the second quarter that killed us," Glenbard West coach Mike Hofland said. "We didn't take advantage of our height and we allowed them to trap us. We actually waited for the traps to come to us instead of anticipating them.

"When teams trap, we need to anticipate them and get lay-ups, but we just didn't do that tonight."

The Wildcats maintained their lead while holding the Hilltoppers to just one made field goal in the fourth quarter. Glenbard West closed the gap to 41-37 before a layup by Najee Smith and an inside basket by Amber Smith put the game away.

Megan Doody led Neuqua Valley with 12 points, while teammate Alexa Wilde finished with 11. Cayla Herbst led Glenbard West with a game-high 13 points.