Neuqua Valley shoots past Bartlett
Neuqua Valley and Bartlett were in an offensive shootout all third quarter long.
So much so, that the first team to get a defensive stop or two was going to be able to put a run together.
Neuqua made a quick adjustment to a zone press, momentarily catching the Hawks off guard, to change a 41-36 lead into a 10-point game. The Wildcats spent the rest of the game holding off the Hawks, eventually taking a 64-59 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division boys basketball matchup in Bartlett Saturday night.
“Coach said, that the offense was great, but the defense was terrible,” said Wildcats guard Tyler Sutton, who led all players with 18 points. “The first one to make a stop in that third quarter was going to win it. We went to our press and made a couple of stops and that saved us.”
A timely foul also had a helping hand in the Wildcats’ (4-4, 1-2) victory as well. Trailing 62-59 with 14 seconds left, the Hawks (4-3, 0-2) had a chance to score. Two timeouts later, Bartlett’s John Leigeber was fouled while dribbling well behind the range of the 3-point line. Leigeber went to the line with 2 seconds reaming in the game, missing the free throw. Darien Miskel snatched the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line with 1.1 seconds left to play.
He sank both foul shots closing out the victory for the Wildcats.
Bartlett had already made six 3-pointers in the second half and went 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. Lorenzo Mitchell (13 points) and Matt Chaltin (16 points) each nailed 3 long-range bombs apiece, with Chaltin shooting 60 percent (6 for 10) overall in the game.
“Bartlett was picking us apart,” Wildcats’ coach Todd Sutton said. “They ran such a good offense. They exposed us. We weren’t getting stops, even though the offense was going well.”
Bartlett was 9 of 13 in the third quarter, and Neuqua responded by going 66 percent (10 for 15). Chaltin nailed a jumper to bring the Hawks back to a 31-30 deficit, but a 3-pointer from Jabari Sandifer and a basket from Nathan Boudreau cushioned the Wildcats’ lead back to 36-30.
“We were going back-to-back, then we let them get a couple baskets,” Chaltin said. “We fought, we just couldn’t come back all the way. Their press caught us off guard.”
The Wildcats were 5 for 7 from the 3-point line in the second quarter, with Sutton (5 assists, 3 steals) and Sandifer (15 points, 4 assists) each hitting 2.
“We knew they had a couple of guys who can shoot the rock,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “We really tried to work hard in the second half to try to cover (those) guys different. In the second half, we gave up too many transition baskets.”