In the end it's Wheaton Warrenville South again
One of these days Wheaton Warrenville South is bound to lose a close boys basketball game.
Dillon Durrett made sure it didn't happen Friday.
The senior forward scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to lift the host Tigers to a 40-34 DuPage Valley Conference win over Neuqua Valley.
That performance came during a game in which WW South shot 6 for 26 from 3-point range and 8 for 16 from the free-throw line, got outrebounded 28-18 and trailed until the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (23-1, 12-0) have won 10 games by 10 points or less, including two against Neuqua Valley.
"We're a team that likes to shoot the ball," Durrett said. "Any team that likes to shoot the ball, if the ball is not going through the hoop when we shoot it, it's frustrating.
"But (it was) not too frustrating to where we didn't still play the way we knew how to play, and that's hard. It was frustrating but it didn't take away from other aspects."
Indeed, the Tigers relied on their defense to get the job done, even after Durrett missed the final nine minutes of the first half after picking up two charging fouls.
The Wildcats (11-13, 4-8) led 22-14 at halftime, but the Tigers weren't worried.
"We just kept playing hard," WW South senior Drew Healy said. "At halftime we decided to keep playing hard, play better defense and maybe shots would fall. A couple of them fell."
Healy scored all 9 of his points on 3-pointers, the last of which triggered the Tigers' comeback from a 28-21 third-quarter deficit. He followed that by setting up his brother, Jake, for another 3 to pull his team within 1 after three quarters.
"It was tough," Healy said. "Give them credit: They were a tough team tonight and it was hard."
The third quarter provided the momentum swing. The Wildcats shot 2 for 3 in the quarter but committed 8 turnovers.
"We turned it over twice right off the bat in the third quarter and we started fouling," Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. "Turnovers and fouls is a bad combo."
Durrett, who had 5 steals, took over in the fourth quarter. His three-point play gave the Tigers their first lead, 30-28, before the Wildcats scored the next 4 points.
But Durrett tied the game with a layup, gave WW South the lead for good with a free throw with 3:44 left and scored 8 of his team's final 9 points, including a 4-for-4 effort from the line in the final 40 seconds. He also blocked a pair of 3-point attempts.
"I practice (free throws) a lot and I just think about hitting these to ease the weight off of my brothers," Durrett said. "That's the only thing I think about, hitting these for my team."
Blaise Meredith tallied 13 points to lead Neuqua.
"I thought we defended excellent," Sutton said. "We destroyed them on the boards and our defense was really good.
"They run a great offense and we shut them down. We're practicing hard and we're playing hard, so we're doing a nice job."