For Metea Valley, it’s good to be back.
That was the overwhelming sentiment in the immediate aftermath of Metea Valley rolling to a ninth straight victory after beginning the postseason on Wednesday with a 24-point rout of Addison Trail.
Back in a regional final for the first time since 2012 when they beat Benet at home on their way to reaching the 2012 East Aurora Sectional Final and getting a 25-win season in the process, the eighth-seeded Mustangs get a crack at top-seeded Lyons Township on Friday in the Class 4A Proviso West Regional Final.
“(I’ve seen LT in) a few games. They’re obviously very talented. They (are) a No. 1 seed for a reason. It’s going to be a challenge for us, but we’re happy to be back in a regional final and let’s see what happens,” Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said afterwards.
Metea Valley (17-12) put consecutive regional semifinal losses to Waubonsie Valley and Naperville Central in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively, behind it on Wednesday as Dei’Ron Delarosa and Ron Edwards had 15 points each.
Nick Dodson did yeo-man’s work defensively against Blazers’ senior forward Taylor White, limiting him to just nine points, as the Mustangs outscored the Blazers by 17 points in the second half to reach the 60-point mark for the seventh time in their last eight games.
Their task gets even tougher on Friday while going up against the Lions (23-5), who have won six games in a row and 11 of their last 12 games.
But after playing the likes of Lake Forest, Benet and Notre Dame, the Mustangs have played sound competition at different parts of the season.
“We’re ready for them. Anything can happen. We played Lake Forest earlier in the season, Benet. So we’re going to be used to playing against tough teams,” Edwards said on Wednesday. “And we can beat them. We just have to play great defense.”
During Metea Valley’s nine-game winning streak, it has limited opponents to an average of 48.7 points a game, with seven of the nine opponents being held under 50 points.
Four Lions scored in double figures in their 55-48 victory over 15th-seeded Proviso West, led by senior Harrison Niego’s 17 points.
A pair of seniors, Jaquan Phipps and Joe Brunner, and sophomore Connor Niego each chipped in with 10 points apiece for Lyons Township against the Panthers.
“Their leader is Harrison Niego. He’s an All-State caliber guard for them. Averages about 19 (points a game). … When things are ratcheted up a little bit and they need shots, he’s going to get them for them,” Vozza said. “He makes great shots on the outside and can attack the basket, as well. So led by him, he’s surrounded by four threats out there, as well.
“They’ve got Jaquan Phipps, who’s very athletic. He can get to the basket, can shoot it. They got (Danny) O’Malley, who can shoot on the wing and then Harrison Niego’s brother, Connor, is a 6-8 guard, sophomore, who’s just a tough matchup physically inside and even outside with his shot. So we’ll be challenged with that.”
The Mustangs’ senior group, led by three-year varsity players in Dodson and Bryson Oliver, have led the resurgence over the last two months that started in earnest at the Wheaton Warrenville South MLK Tournament in mid-January.
Now with an opportunity to join the likes of Kenny Obendorf and Ryan Solomon as seniors with regional titles at Metea Valley, Dodson and the rest of his teammates are hoping just to keep things moving in the right direction.
“It’s what we’ve been striving for. I mean, from the beginning of the season, we knew that is where we wanted to be at,” Dodson said. “We were just a little inconsistent, but we’ve been cleaning it up and playing on the defensive end, as well. So I think defense has definitely helped us a lot.”
“It’ll be a big win (against Lyons Township). We haven’t been in the regional championship since the school opened the first year, so it’s definitely something that us seniors want to do. As one of our goals, we wanted to win a regional championship. So it’ll be huge.”
