Its 46-point victory over Oswego East on Tuesday night, an eye-opener to the start of what it hopes to be a long postseason run, Neuqua Valley knows full well it can’t rest on its laurels.
The top-seeded Wildcats aim to get the opportunity to keep playing next week over at Bolingbrook by getting past eighth-seeded Minooka on Friday in the title game of the Class 4A Joliet West Regional.
Five Wildcats scored in double figures against Oswego East while six Wildcats accounted for the nine three-pointers they hit during a 89-point assault that marked their third highest point total of the season.
“The kids feel good about themselves, but we also know it’s meaningless for the game on Friday night (against Minooka),” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “It has nothing to do with, there’s no correlation between that win and what happens Friday. We’ll probably score 36 on Friday night.”
“We just made shots. That’s all it comes down to. Some games we make shots and some games we can’t buy a basket. So when the ball goes in, we’re going to win. When it doesn’t, season’s over.”
Connor Raridon, who had a team-high 18, Jacob Eminger and Joe Sieger each hit two three-pointers against the Wolves while Zac Lendino and Jacob Cushing ended up in double figures.
Taking a look at what the Indians (15-15) did to Joliet West on Tuesday, Sutton came away impressed.
“Defensive intensity was incredible,” Sutton said of the Indians’ effort during their 61-45 victory over Joliet West on Tuesday. “It was one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen all year. They’re just extremely intense.”
Minooka, coached by former Neuqua Valley head sophomore coach Scott Tanaka, led by 18 points early in the third on Tuesday against Joliet West on its way to getting a 16-point win and carries some star power of its own into Friday.
All Minooka junior Joe Butler, an Illinois State-commit for baseball, did against Joliet West was go for a game-high 32 points on hitting 11 of 12 shots while also pulling down 11 rebounds.
“We’re a tough basketball team that believes in hard work, discipline and defense. Joe Butler kind of just epitomizes that whole philosophy and that whole concept,” said Tanaka, who was the head sophomore coach for four years at Neuqua Valley. “I’ve been coaching basketball for a very long time, 15-plus years, and Joe Butler is by far the toughest kid I’ve ever had the pleasure to coach. I probably can’t say enough words to describe just Joe Butler’s toughness, intensity and just athleticism. He’s just a pure coach’s dream to coach on a day-in and day-out basis.”
After beating East Aurora on Feb. 27 to close out the regular season, Eminger and Sieger each discussed the pain of the Wildcats’ regional semifinal loss a year ago to one of Minooka’s conference mates, Plainfield North.
Not necessarily paying attention to what might lie ahead, a possible eighth regional title for the program is all Neuqua Valley (25-4) is concerned about at the moment.
“Our goal is to start every year is just to win the regional. Our goal is to win regionals. We’ll see what happens in the sectional,” Sutton said. “If we do that, we’re pretty happy. If we don’t do that, we’re not happy.”
Minooka, on the other hand, is in rarified territory for its program as it hasn’t won a regional title since 1977.
“There’s no words, to be honest. I mean, there’s no words. I mean, it’s been 15 years since we’ve played in a regional championship, let alone winning the game,” Tanaka said. “I just feel so much for the kids that we have this year. We play primarily all under-classmen. We start a freshman, sophomore and three juniors. So for the kids to be able to buy in to what we do and to be successful at doing it just speaks volumes of our kids and our kids’ ability to just believe in what we do.”
