Jacob Cushing may have started it for Neuqua Valley, but Joe Sieger made sure he finished it.
Sieger’s layup with 1.5 seconds left in double overtime helped Neuqua Valley survive in double overtime against Metea Valley to earn an 84-83 DuPage Valley victory on Friday.
“Coach (Todd Sutton) told me to get the ball and I was the one because both of those other guys had fouled out,” Sieger said. “So I just got the ball. I wanted to get a shot off at the end and I saw there was enough time to go coast-to-coast. That’s a high percentage shot for me, so that’s the one I took.”
While the Cal Poly-bound Cushing poured in a career high 30 points, 20 of Sieger’s 23 points came after halftime for the Wildcats (2-3, 1-0).
Trailing by 10 points with 5:27 left in regulation after a Matt Helwig triple, Cushing and Sieger went to work.
Cushing and Sieger combined for nine of the Wildcats’ 12 points during a 12-2 run to end regulation and send the game into overtime – a run ended by a Ryan Phillips’ triple to tie the game at 66-66.
After Helwig, who led Metea Valley with 22 points, hit a three-pointer with six seconds left in overtime to tie the game at 76-76, Cushing and Sieger refused to let up.
The senior duo combined for all eight Neuqua Valley points in the second extra session.
Cushing, Sieger and Alex Filo combined for 69 of the Wildcats’ 84 points, with Cushing also recording a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
“I had a lot more plays designed to score in the post all year and that kind of got me going from outside, as well,” said Cushing, who was moved from the three to the four. “Getting to the line really helped and I shot pretty well from the line. We did as a team. That really led us to victory, good defensive plays in overtime.”
While Cushing and Sieger were doing their thing, Metea Valley (2-3, 0-1) struggled at the free throw line.
Metea Valley converted on just five of the 14 free throws it took after regulation, which helped dampen a night that saw its bench come up big.
Cushing’s 13-point effort in the first quarter helped stake the Wildcats to a 16-point lead after eight minutes.
But thanks to the work from Jayden Reed, Helwig and Malik Hall, the Mustangs used a 30-12 second quarter to go into halftime up 37-35.
“Did a great job coming back,” Mustangs’ coach Bob Vozza said. “They were obviously ready to go. We weren’t early with execution. They executed great offensively. That second quarter, we found some guys who could defend. We found some guys who made them work for all their shots, got back into the game with some transition.
“Second half, continued to play good basketball. Went back and forth. Fourth quarter, had it and made some poor decisions. Had some young guys out there who hadn’t been in that situation before take some quick shots and turnovers and let them back into the game.”
Reed and Ashton Creal each finished with 13 points apiece for Metea Valley while Hall ended up with seven.
