Frosh Davis takes command for NV
When it came to crunch time, Neuqua Valley girls basketball coach Mike Williams put the ball in the hands of his freshman point guard Danielle Davis -- and she responded.
Davis scored 9 of her 11 points in the final period Monday, to lead the Wildcats from a 28-26 three-quarter deficit to a 39-34 win over host Hinsdale South, at the Hornets Thanksgiving tournament.
"A freshman taking over like that is the sign of a mature kid," said Williams. "She's probably one of the best young point guards I've seen in a long time. She plays with confidence and she controlled the game at the end. When you watch her play, you'd never think she was a freshman."
"The intensity was up," said Davis. "And my job was just to get us playing Neuqua basketball. Good defense, and slowing down the offense so we can get open shots."
In what was a typically sloppy early-season game, with the Wildcats (4-0) turning the ball over 20 times and Hinsdale South (2-2) committing 23 turnovers, Davis' poise was the difference at the end.
Her 3-pointer from the corner put the Wildcats ahead to stay 31-29 with 6:42 remaining in the game.
She then did her job in the Wildcats' trapping defense by making a steal at half-court. She scored at the other end and drew the foul.
In the only flaw in her game on Monday, Davis missed 6 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter.
With 3:30 to play, she grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled to the head of the key and then went back in for another layup.
"When I got that rebound they laid off of me," said Davis. "So I went back in for the shot."
On the next sequence, Neuqua's Viv Kindt, who led the Wildcats scoring with 12 points, put the game away when she drove the lane for the basket that made it 37-32.
"At the end we had two defensive breakdowns," said Hinsdale South coach Brenda Whitesell "They shot the ball a little better than we did tonight and that was the bottom line. We were missing easy layups and didn't hit from the outside."
Chloe Harris led the Hornets with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
For Neuqua Valley, Katie Medvec pulled down 8 boards and Raquel Davis, Danielle's older sister had 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 2 steals. Beth Goldberg scored 8 first-half points.
"We're still a young, immature team," said Williams.
"We played sloppy and the kids didn't really play within themselves until the end. But, we're 4-0 and that's all you can do. We're learning a lot in this tournament and we still have York and Hinsdale Central, two good teams to play."
"You saw a little bit of Neuqua Valley basketball tonight," said Danielle Davis. "But there's more coming."
Glenbard South 38, Glenbard West 35:ŒAlicia Engelhardt's 12 points helped the Raiders (2-1) win their opener in the Rachel Bach Memorial Tournament at Glenbard East.
Glenbard South outscored Glenbard West 10-6 in the fourth quarter.
The Hilltoppers (0-3) received 13 points from Nicole Hazemi.
Downers North 32, Glenbard North 28:ŒThe Trojans (1-0) scored single digits in each quarter, but still managed to win the Glenbard East tourney game. Missy Blazej led them in scoring with 12 points, including 6 in the fourth quarter.
Megan Ney's 9 points topped Glenbard North (0-2).
Immaculate Conception 43, Westmont 19:ŒErin Dunne drilled three 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 13 points for the Knights (2-2), who opened their tourney with a victory.
Maggie Ryan hit a pair of 3-pointers on the way to 8 points for IC, which led 25-9 at the half.
York 77, Larkin 25:ŒThe Dukes (2-1) led 38-18 at intermission, then outscored Larkin 39-7 in the second half at the Hinsdale South tourney.
Amanda Heuser's 15 points paced York followed by Courtney Owens' 14, Meryl Cripe's 13 and Maggie Jackson's 11.
Kaneland 56, Lisle 40:ŒThe Lions fell to 0-3 in the Burlington Central tourney. Sarah Urban scored a team-high 9 points in the loss.