Given the familiarity between the two coaching staffs, a first half featuring 17 combined ties or lead changes between Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Thanks to getting 24 combined second-half points from Jacob Eminger and Demond George, Neuqua Valley was able to pull away from Metea Valley en route to earning a 65-52 road victory on Friday night in Aurora.
Held scoreless in the first half, George got his first basket of the game late in the third before scoring 11 points in the fourth to help Neuqua Valley (5-0, 1-0 Upstate Eight Valley) remain unblemished on the young season.
“In the first half, I picked up two quick (fouls), kind of threw me off my rhythm. I didn’t get a lot of playing time (in the first half) and get accumulated to the game,” said George, who finished with 13 points. “But once the second half started, I was able to play freely. I was no longer in foul trouble and just wanted to execute. Get Jacob, get guys open shots. Get everyone open shots.”
But Eminger’s 11 third-quarter points really started to turn the tide in Neuqua Valley’s favor as he scored 11 straight points to turn a six-point Wildcat lead into a 15-point advantage, courtesy of a pair of three-pointers, a three-point play and a runner in the lane.
Eminger and George picked up where Connor Raridon started as the North Central College-bound Raridon tallied 10 points in the game’s opening 16 minutes to help the Wildcats try and seize control from the Mustangs.
Raridon shared game-high scoring honors with Metea Valley’s Mark Konkle after both finished with 15 points.
“I’d say the second half, to get us going, Jacob Eminger came out and got us rolling there and we got stops on defense. I think we held them around 50 points, which is pretty good,” said Raridon, who pulled down eight rebounds. “We just kept playing hard, kept going inside and we were able to finish, get some and-ones, too.”
Thanks to the spark Eminger, who finished with 13 points, lit in the third and George picking up his pace in the game’s final quarter, Neuqua Valley led by as many as 16 points while never trailing in the second half.
Joe Sieger’s three-pointer from the right corner with 13 seconds left in the first half gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game up to that point at 24-20.
Sieger’s shot proved to be as big of a shot as any for Neuqua Valley in the estimation of its coach.
“I thought it was absolutely huge. It was 20-20 and, you know, we were right there and it’s a battle and we struggled to get to 20-20,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “Just an absolute huge shot. Great momentum getter.”
Konkle, coming off a 19-point, seven-rebound effort in Metea Valley’s 64-63 victory at Waubonsie Valley on Wednesday, ended up with 15 points and six rebounds as the Mustangs had to rely on their outside game to try and counter the Wildcats’ third-quarter surge.
Nick Dodson, aided by a trio of three-pointers, added 11 for Metea Valley (3-3, 1-1) while Tristan Schlosser chipped in with 10.
“The third quarter, obviously, they came out (and shot the ball well). (Eminger) probably didn’t have the first half he wanted. Coach Sutton did a good job drawing up for him and he got them going,” Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said. … “I talked to my group about that last minute (of the first half). When you play a team like Neuqua, they’re solid at every spot. You know, the amount of threes they hit in their last game with De La Salle, we had to be there on the catch and I thought we were there for 15 of the minutes in that first half.
“That little run they had, transition and then put us on our heels even more with the run they had in terms of coming out. I thought they out-executed us early in the third quarter. Then we were forced to chase a really good team who’s really smart, can hit free throws and put the game away a little bit.”
