Neuqua Valley tops Waubonsie Valley

Visiting its longest District 204 rival, on Tuesday Neuqua Valley defeated Waubonsie Valley 62-51 in DuPage Valley Conference action in Aurora.

That gave the Wildcats a second straight win, the first time that's happened since Christmas. The importance of this varied from player to coach.

“We lost, like, nine straight, so it's definitely good to get back on a win streak rather than a losing streak,” said Wildcats senior guard Joseph Sieger, who led all scorers with 23 points, including 10 for 10 from the free-throw line.

“Right now,” Neuqua coach Todd Sutton said, “we're just a little bit more concerned about the box out and setting a screen than wins and losses because we've got a lot of work to do.”

Coming off Friday's win over Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley (8-15, 4-7) at least gets to work on those things amid a more favorable atmosphere.

Defense had also been a sticking point for Sutton and on Tuesday his team forced Waubonsie Valley (4-17, 0-11) to shoot less than 33 percent.

The Warriors trailed 19-12 after one quarter then scored 9 points in each of the second and third quarters before 6-foot-3 senior forward Demetrius Ewing paced a 21-point fourth with 14 of his team-high 16 points. Ewing also grabbed 6 of his 10 rebounds, including 5 offensive, in the fourth quarter.

Warriors coach Chaz Taft noted team fouls that allowed Neuqua to make 24 of 33 free throws. Sieger, he said, “cut our defense up,” and Neuqua's 6-7 Alex Filo scored 10 of his 14 points from the line as well.

“The next thing is field-goal percentage,” Taft said. “We've got to make some shots.”

Yet his team was always in the game, aided by committing only 9 turnovers. The Warriors hung in there after a 14-point third-quarter deficit and trailing 52-39 on 6-8 senior Jacob Cushing's inside basket at 4:35 of the fourth quarter. Sieger's offensive rebound gave Cushing that chance.

“They were being more aggressive than us at certain points of the game. We have to match their aggressiveness,” said Ewing, followed by Mark Rullo's 12 points for Waubonsie.

“It was really hard for both teams to score,” said Sutton, who also had Cushing in double figures with 14. “We found it very difficult to score against their defense. We made some plays, but it was tough going out there.”