Neuqua Valley enjoys second chance at Waubonsie Valley

One nice aspect of conference play is if you lose to an opponent the first time, there's a second chance.

The Neuqua Valley boys basketball team made the most of its shot at visiting Waubonsie Valley on Friday night, winning 57-48.

The Warriors had won 62-54 on their home court Jan. 7.

Wildcats coach Todd Sutton said both contests came down to Neuqua's performance at the 3-point arc.

"We made some 3s. We were 10 of 19 tonight, but just 4 of 20 the last time," he said. "It was the only difference. This was a tight game, a close game and a difficult game."

After scoring just 12 points in the first half, Waubonsie (14-13, 3-6 DuPage Valley Conference) erupted for 36 points in the final two quarters and kept within single digits for the final 3:48 of the contest.

After his team took a timeout at the 2:18 mark, Eric Chtilianov, who with Samy Ennassiri each led their team with 10 points apiece, hit a 3 to cut Neuqua's lead to 52-45.

The Wildcats (19-9, 6-3), though, kept the Warriors at bay in the remaining time with a 5-of-8 showing at the free-throw line.

"We made some adjustments in the second half. Neuqua's defense was incredible in the first half," said Waubonsie coach Andrew Schweitzer. "In the second half we were cutting hard and moving the ball around. Neuqua is a good team. They knocked down their shots."

And knocking down their shots especially for Neuqua were Jayden Dean and Erikas Gurskas who made seven of the team's 10 3-pointers. Dean was game-high scorer with 17 points with four 3s.

"In the second half, our defense was not as good. Definitely in the first half, it was really good. We held them to 12 points," Dean said. "But we got back to where we wanted to be mentally and locked the game down."

Gurskas followed on the scoresheet with 12 points.

"I'm more of a kind of shooting guy. I create my own shots. But if Coach needs me to shoot off the dribble, I'll do that," he said.

Neuqua led 16-9 after the first quarter and 27-12 at halftime on 10-of-18 shooting from the field.