Neuqua Valley tops St. Charles North
One thought kept coming to mind watching Neuqua Valley Friday night.
How intense must those practice 5-on-5s get?
The 10th-ranked Wildcats came at St. Charles North in waves, overwhelming the North Stars 65-27 at the first York Turkey Tournament in Elmhurst.
Neuqua’s bench players, if you can call them that, accounted for 44 of the Wildcats’ point total. Najee Smith scored 13 and also pulled down 10 rebounds.
“We can throw anybody on the court,” Smith said. “Everybody’s got their strengths and weaknesses.”
It’s no secret that Neuqua and coach Mike Williams were rarin’ to go this year, coming off a 20-8 year playing five freshmen and a sophomore.
Bad news for opponents — he has even more young, talented kids now. Neuqua played eight sophomores Friday. Kristen Moore, a strong 6-foot move-in to Neuqua, had 10 points and 7 rebounds, and another new Wildcat — guard Shay Robinson — 8 points. A third sophomore who played at the lower level a year ago, Jenny Voytell, scored 7.
“They’re a great addition to our team,” Smith said. “We love having them.”
“It’s a nice problem to have,” Williams admitted.
St. Charles North coach Colleen Brennan was ready to put the game in the rearview mirror, and why not? The North Stars committed 35 turnovers for the game — but a bright spot was only 2 in the fourth quarter. Alex Silverman, one of two key North Stars returners, scored 10 points.
“There’s not that much to say,” Brennan said. “Our conversation is not going to be too much about that game. We’re going to be a successful team. You have to take little milestones like the calm we showed in the fourth quarter in a game like that.”
Neuqua led 32-12 after a half, but the action was at times sloppy at both ends. The Wildcats came out of the break much crisper. Neuqua opened the half on a 10-1 run, capped by a steal and score by Malia Smith.
“We’ve grown up,” Williams said. “The hardest part is trying to slow them down, because that’s not our nature. It’s going to be a fun year. We’ve had a great off-season and it feels good to get the first one. We just told them to focus and have some fun.”
Megan Doody shook off a slow start to finish with 11 points and Allison Hedrick had 6 points and 4 rebounds. Neuqua also pounded the glass, winning that battle 50-26 with 23 offensive boards. Najee Smith, listed as a guard, did much of the dirty work.
“One of our posts Bryce Mendendez, she’s hurt,” Smith said, “so I had to step over and play some of the 4. I’ll go where I need to go.”