Myia Starks and Kai Moon have shown time and time again that they can control pace for Neuqua Valley.
Given a harsh talk from coach Mike Williams at halftime on Saturday against Glenbard North, Starks and Moon heeded the message over the course of the next eight minutes.
Starks and Moon combined to score the team’s first 14 points of the half to help Neuqua Valley cruise to a 56-23 DuPage Valley victory over the Panthers.
The Northern Illinois-bound Starks and Moon – ticketed for Binghamton – took turns early in the third exchanging game-high scoring honors as they took Williams’ challenge into their collective hands.
“At halftime, I’ve actually never seen (Williams) that animated before,” Moon said. “He was very upset at our lack of effort in the first half and I just wanted to come out and give as much energy as possible. I knew that this was a team that we should have been playing better against, so I wanted to do that. I knew that if it wasn’t going to start from anywhere else, it had to start from me.”
Moon had 10 of her game-high 14 points in the third, which saw the Wildcats (12-4, 6-1) turn a six-point halftime lead into a 23-point advantage going into the fourth at 41-18.
Starks was right behind her backcourt mate with 13 points.
“I’d say the second half was a lot better than the first half,” Starks said. “(Williams) went off on us in the locker room, so he certainly woke all of us up.”
While the Wildcats outscored the Panthers 23-6 in the third, it was their 10-0 run to open up the second that provided a working margin.
To no one’s surprise, Starks and Moon combined for all 10 of those points but Williams was quick to point out the contributions of others.
“You can’t do it without Jordyn Diaz, who was in there flying around, Megan Keefer,” Williams said. “And those kids were putting pressure on to make bad passes and Myia and Kai were the beneficiaries of those passes.”
Neuqua Valley has now won three straight following a loss to Wheaton Warrenville South – matching its longest winning streak of the year – and Williams’ desire to get his younger group some experience rolls on.
The switch from the Upstate Eight to the DVC is providing a different challenge to that end.
“The DVC is a lot trickier when there’s much better teams by far,” Starks said. “So I think it’s good. It’s preparing us for regionals and playoffs.”
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