Norkus, Neuqua Valley storm back from 7 down to beat Oswego East
Kylee Norkus said Neuqua Valley carried a chip on its shoulder Saturday.
The Wildcats’ season has been marked by its up and down nature. A one-point loss to state-ranked Waubonsie Valley Thursday was proof of Neuqua’s potential, and are fueled to find it.
It took a half, but Norkus certainly found something at Oswego East.
The 5-foot-10 senior guard, an Evansville recruit, scored 11 of her team-high 20 points in her team’s 27-point third quarter. In a game full of wild swings of momentum, visiting Neuqua erased a seven-point halftime deficit and beat Oswego East going away 77-58.
“We needed this win,” said Norkus, who also had six rebounds and three steals. “We’ve been a little inconsistent, but this is the start to our winning streak. We had a chip on our shoulder from a close conference loss. That was our motivation.”
Caitlin Washington and Nalia Clifford each added 18 points for Neuqua (11-8). Maggie Lewandowski scored 22 points, Ava Valek had 10 points and seven rebounds and Aubrey Lamberti scored nine points for Oswego East (8-7).
A game between teams that like to pressure and play fast delivered. Scoring came in bunches on both sides in an entertaining Saturday afternoon matchup.
Clifford scored eight of her 18 and Neuqua shot 64.7% from the field in the first quarter in racing out to a 24-17 lead. Oswego East roared right back with a 19-3 run to end the half to go into halftime ahead 38-31. But Norkus scored seven of Neuqua’s first 11 points, the Wildcats going on an 8-0 run out of the break.
Washington’s drive and three-point play with 3:39 left in the third quarter gave Neuqua the lead for good, 46-45. The Wildcats forced eight third-quarter turnovers, three coming on Norkus steals, leading to multiple runouts the other way.
“We knew their weaknesses,” Norkus said. “We needed to trap them to get the ball back to get some fastbreaks to get us going. I would say in the first half we took some defensive breaks. Second half, we tightened some things up.”
A Zoe Navarro score off a turnover sent Neuqua into the fourth quarter ahead 58-49, and the margin never dipped below nine again.
“The pressure, we talked about it, being ready for that, that they’re going to do some things to get more steals. They did a good job of it,” Oswego East coach Abe Carretto said. “We still had opportunities. We missed some shots here and there. They did a good job of forcing the issue, getting some turnovers.”
The Wolves were able to navigate that pressure in the second quarter with 21 points and zero turnovers. Three consecutive Valek baskets started a 12-0 run, and Lewandowski’s 3-pointer from the top of the key gave Oswego East its first lead, 31-28.
“I feel like we were seeing each other well, pushing the ball,” Lewandowski said. “I feel like when we start playing fast and play good defense that’s when we are at our best. It was a fun game, it was fast. They play hard too so it was back and forth.”
Norkus, scoreless in the second quarter, took the lead in the second half to drive Neuqua’s comeback.
“I definitely knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t contributing offensively in the first half,” Norkus said. “My goal every game is to be an all-around player – score, defense, get my teammates the ball when they’re open. But I knew second half I had to have an aggressive mindset offensively.”
Carretto said the lull out of halftime has been a trend of his team’s, even during a Friday night win over Plainfield East.
“We kept that fighting, we still have that fight in us, but that halftime part, when we have leads, we’ve kind of been struggling with that,” Carretto said. “Something to work on.”
While his team, like Neuqua, is hovering around .500, Oswego East is tied for the Southwest Prairie West lead with Yorkville. The two teams play again in one month, on Feb. 6.
“I feel like we’re going to do really good second half of the season,” Lewandowski said.