Neuqua Valley defeats Lake Park
Megan Doody knows she doesn’t have to do all the scoring by herself this year for Neuqua Valley.
But if the shot’s there, she’s still a great option.
Doody scored 11 points in a hot-shooting first quarter, then hit a dagger 3-pointer late as No. 6 Neuqua Valley pulled away to beat Lake Park 55-39 on Wednesday in Roselle.
“Shot selection was something I worked on all summer, just trying to mature as a player,” said Doody, who had a team-high 14 points. “We have a lot of depth this year. It’s nice to not have all the pressure.”
Doody knocked down three 3-pointers and a jumper in the first quarter, Neuqua (6-0, 1-0 Upstate Eight Valley) jumping out to an early 12-5 lead. Lake Park (3-2, 0-1) kept within striking distance until the very end, but Neuqua never trailed after the game’s first minute.
Both teams came in after a week layoff, Neuqua following its tournament title at York. Neuqua pressured Lake Park into 31 turnovers but rarely capitalized on them.
“It’s a long season, and we gave our kids four days off. You take that chance how they’re going to come out of it,” Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. “But we don’t want to be peaking Dec. 5.”
Alexis Hahn scored 16 points for Lake Park, well below her early 23-point average, but just as important she helped navigate Neuqua’s pressure. Nicole Moore added 10 points and Alyssa Hernandez 8 points and 11 rebounds for the Lancers, who outrebounded Neuqua 35-28 and outscored the Wildcats 17-5 at the free-throw line.
A Hahn free throw had Lake Park within 46-39 with 3:13 left, but Lake Park didn’t score the rest of the way and managed just 3 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“We hung in there, but we missed some opportunities,” Lancers coach Andrea Miller said. “Neuqua just keeps coming at you. They wore us down a little bit.”
Allison Hedrick scored 10 points with 4 rebounds for Neuqua, her three-point play starting a game-ending 9-0 run. Amber Smith had 8 points and Kristen Moore 5 boards.
“Allison showed her quickness tonight and her ability to move along the baseline against bigger players,” Williams said. “Those three did some good things for us.”