Less than 24 hours after securing a home victory over West Aurora, Neuqua Valley had no room for a letdown.
Not with a road tilt with perhaps its biggest rival next on the docket.
Spurred on a 9-0 run in the third quarter, ended by a pair of Connor Raridon three-pointers, Neuqua Valley regained control of a game it had early on en route to securing a 50-35 Upstate Eight Valley victory over Waubonsie Valley on Saturday in Aurora.
A night after scoring 20 points in the Wildcats’ five-point victory over the Blackhawks, Raridon led the way yet again with his 13 points and timely shots, none which were bigger than the two he hit to help the Wildcats seize control.
“We just started pushing the ball a little more and getting out in transition and it helped when we got stops, so we could get up the floor quicker and I got two open looks and knocked them down and Joe (Sieger) knocked down his three (points),” Raridon said.
Making life miserable in the halfcourt for the Warriors for long stretches, Neuqua Valley (9-1, 5-1) kept them off the scoreboard until a free throw from Mark Rullo with two seconds left in the first while the Warriors’ first field goal didn’t come until 7:12 was left in the half as Logan Yanisch tallied a basket inside.
Down by as many as 11 points in the first half because of the Wildcats’ stifling defense, Waubonsie Valley (3-7, 1-5) ended the half on a 13-4 run to pull within 20-18 at halftime.
A basket from Chris Karkazis, who had 14 points for the Warriors after scoring 22 points Friday night in a victory at Glenbard East, opened the second-half scoring and brought them back even with the Wildcats for the first time.
Then Raridon, the Wildcats’ North Central College-bound senior, and Sieger combined to go on the 9-0 run for the Wildcats, which prompted Waubonsie Valley coach Chaz Taft to call a timeout with 3:36 left in the third.
“You can say ‘Raridon run.’ You don’t have to say ‘9-0 run.’ I mean, c’mon! Let’s be honest here,” Taft said. “I mean, we got in our transition defense. Paint-problem-man-you-know. We got to the paint, (and) stopped that, no layup, but left Raridon open for those two threes and that was a big dagger right there. That hurt right there.”
The contributions of Yanisch, who scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter, was what the Warriors needed to claw their way back into things in the first half.
It’s a fact that wasn’t lost on his teammates.
“Logan Yanisch’s a hell of a player. He’s so undergoed and I have so much respect for that man. He dishes the ball, he scores, he pump-fakes to get people to go up, goes in for a foul,” Karkazis said. “He’s got the whole package. We just need to get everyone to start playing at their peak and I think we can be a great team. I really do.”
Demond George and Zac Lendino, by virtue of scoring nine points apiece, helped aid Raridon in the scoring department for the Wildcats, who also got seven points from Jacob Cushing.
But it was the continued emphasis placed on the boards, resulting in a 28-22 edge, and a defense that didn’t let up less than 24 hours after locking down West Aurora that has Neuqua Valley heading over to East Aurora for its Christmas tournament play on a high.
“Probably the best defensive weekend we’ve had, maybe ever,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “I mean, two games back-to-back where the defense was phenomenal. We can’t ask any more of our defense this weekend.”
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