Neuqua can’t drop Plainfield East

With time running out on the Neuqua Valley boys basketball team Friday night, Jabari Sandifer shook his defender and attacked the rim, releasing a shot just over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-9 Brian Bennett.

It didn’t fall, and neither did No. 1 seed Plainfield East.

Deontre’ Brown scored a game-high 17 points, Bennett added 13, and Plainfield East beat No. 8 Neuqua Valley 47-45 in Naperville on Friday to claim the Class 4A Neuqua Valley regional title.

The Bengals entered the game with just one loss but had plenty of reason to be nervous late as Sandifer’s potential game-tying layup attempt with six seconds left bounced around the rim.

“It hit the rim about six times and didn’t go in,” Sandifer said. “It just didn’t fall.”

Sandifer, a junior, led Neuqua Valley with 16 points. He hit a pair of free throws with 49.7 seconds to play to bring the Wildcats within 1.

Brown split a pair of free throws at the other end to push the lead back to 2. Neuqua Valley called a timeout with 16.2 seconds to play, and Sandifer caught the ensuing inbounds pass beyond the 3-point line on the right side of the court. He drove hard to his right — losing his defender with a sharp behind-the-back crossover — and elevated over Bennett.

“I saw a lane open and I took it,” Sandifer said.

Plainfield East’s Jawan Straughter scooped up the rebound and was fouled immediately. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Neuqua Valley’s desperate heave from midcourt was nowhere close as the buzzer sounded.

“I think we executed (the final sequence) fairly well,” junior Pat Kenny said. “It was loud in there and a lot of pressure. Jabari has been making big plays all year. There, it just missed.”

Plainfield East coach Branden Adkins said he considered taking Bennett out for the final possession and going with a smaller lineup. As it turned out, Bennett’s extra length may have been just enough to bother Sandifer’s shot.

“We had to go with the guys that got us there,” Adkins said. “It’s tough to go at a 6-foot-9 kid, as wide as he is. He made it tough for him. I give (Sandifer) credit, he played hard tonight. He really kept them in the ballgame.”

Neuqua Valley did a nice job of limiting the towering Bennett, who picked up two fouls in the game’s first five minutes and only had 5 points at halftime. Still, the Wildcats trailed for all but a seven-minute stretch in the second quarter and fell behind 42-36 on a baby hook by Bennett midway through the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats turned a Plainfield East turnover into a transition layup for senior Jesse Romero-White, who splashed a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 42-41 and awaken a Neuqua Valley crowd that had been overshadowed by Plainfield East’s traveling fans.

That didn’t seem the bother the Bengals, who scored the next four points — on a layup by Myles Walters and a hard drive by Brown that yielded two free throws — before Neuqua Valley’s final push.

“They’re a good penetrating team. We tried to stop that,” Sandifer said. “They just made more shots.”

Junior Darien Miskel added 12 points for Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats shot just 11 of 20 from the free-throw line, including a 2-of-8 performance in the first half.

Plainfield East (27-1) advances to play West Aurora (23-5) in the sectional semifinals at East Aurora on Tuesday.