How long does it take to score?
Less than a second is all Will Stankus needed to become the latest big man at Neuqua Valley.
Stankus’ tip in of a Blaise Meredith miss propelled 14th-seeded Neuqua Valley to a thrilling and improbable 58-56 victory over 20th-seeded Lincoln-Way East in a Class 4A Neuqua Valley Regional Quarterfinal.
“I just saw that the ball was going out the other way, so I just followed it and tipped it back in,” said Stankus, who had five points – including a pivotal three-pointer in the third quarter.
Stankus’ heroics allowed the Wildcats (11-18) to finish off a comeback for the ages.
Down by as many as 17 points to the Griffins in the first half and facing a 16-point deficit at halftime, Neuqua Valley put together a 22-point third – capped by a Ryan Phillips’ triple at the buzzer.
“It felt good getting the crowd back into it,” Stankus said. “We were down a little bit, but then once I hit that three, the crowd picked back up and followed by a couple other good plays by (Jacob Cushing).”
At 41-39 going to the fourth, Phillips’ three-pointer gave the Wildcats their first lead since 3-2 as the game underwent a tit-for-tat in the game’s final eight minutes.
Five ties and seven lead changes – the seventh and final one coming on Stankus’ basket – highlighted an entertaining last eight minutes as Neuqua Valley earned a Tuesday date with third-seeded Joliet West.
Cushing, one of two players to gain valuable experience on last season’s 27-win team, put the onus on himself when his team needed him most.
The Cal Poly-bound forward recorded 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half for the Wildcats, who got nine points each from Meredith and Joe Sieger while Alex Filo chipped in eight.
A Cushing three-pointer opened the scoring in the second half and he followed that up with six more points during the third as Cushing, Filo and Stankus combined for 19 of their 22 third-quarter points.
“We all had a sluggish first half, obviously – down 16, 35-19,” said Cushing, who added nine rebounds. “At halftime, (Neuqua Valley) coach (Todd Sutton) really wanted to get the ball into me and Filo more. He wanted to slow the game down. That’s where we were getting opportunities to score easily and also getting to the foul line.”
Following a basket from Meredith to give the Wildcats a 51-48 lead with 2:38 left in regulation, a pair of live-ball turnovers allowed the Griffins to take a one-point lead with 1:41 to play.
But Neuqua Valley wouldn’t trail again after a Meredith three-pointer with 1:25 left in the game, which gave it a 54-52 lead.
From there, the two teams exchanged the next three baskets – ending with Stankus corralling the rebound off Meredith’s miss and tipping it home.
“Will’s been playing good for about five, six weeks now, so he’s starting to come around,” Sutton said. “He’s starting to figure it out and we obviously needed every point of his.”
Four triples in the first helped Lincoln-Way East get out to a 28-11 lead after the first as Justin Siorek, Sam Shafer and Mike Herlihy combined for 23 of the 28 points.
The Wildcats’ defense stiffened up considerably during the last three quarters as the Griffins managed 28 points in the game’s final 24 minutes.
“Execute our offense,” Sutton said. “Let’s focus on defense, get stops and just pick up the intensity. I thought we were real soft in the first half.”
