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Neuqua Valley holds off Metea Valley in overtime

Metea Valley came ever so close to spoiling Neuqua Valley’s Senior Night.

Alexa Wilde made sure that didn’t happen.

The senior, honored before the game with classmates Catherine Augustine and Kaitlin Troyanowski, scored the tying basket with eight seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, where the Wildcats eventually picked up a 68-62 win over the visiting Mustangs on Thursday night in Naperville.

“My focus the whole time was to go up and get the ball,” Wilde said. “I just saw the two girls and I just cleared out. I think a lot of luck came with that, but once I saw it went in, I was pretty pumped.”

Wilde’s game-tying shot from the block forced a foul on the play, but she missed the ensuing free throw, sending the game into overtime.

“I was mad that I missed the free throw,” she said. “I really wanted to finish the game on that.”

Metea Valley (5-19, 0-9) bore little resemblance to the team that lost to Neuqua Valley (17-4, 7-2) by 22 points back on Nov. 30.

An inside basket and free throw by Amira Turner gave the Mustangs a 53-47 lead late in the fourth quarter, their biggest of the night. That’s when the Wildcats finally answered the call, employing their full-court press to mount a comeback.

Megan Doody cut her team’s deficit to 53-49 with a layup off her steal. The Wildcats then forced two more Mustangs turnovers off the full-court press. Malia Smith made 1-of-2 free throws off one turnover and Wilde knocked down a pair at the line after the second turnover, cutting the Mustangs lead to 53-52.

After the two teams traded free throws, Metea Valley’s Kiley Dunning gave her team a 56-54 lead by making the second of two free-throw attempts with 14 seconds remaining, leading to Wilde’s game-tying bucket.

“We presented the kids with a challenge before the game and I felt that they rose to that challenge,” Metea Valley coach Kris Kalivas said. “That was good to see at this point in the season. We never stopped fighting.”

Niki Lazar and Wilde scored the first two baskets in overtime to put their team up by four. The Mustangs never got any closer than three points in the extra period.

“It’s Senior Night, we’re on a roll and the last time we played (Metea Valley) we beat them pretty good,” Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams said. “Obviously, they’ve gotten better and I could tell in warmups that they were ready to take it to us.

“The last 55 seconds, we made it happen, and the bottom line is that great teams stay focused, they keep the faith and they fight the fight, and that’s what we did.”

Images: Neuqua Valley vs. Metea Valley girls basketball

  Metea at Neuqua girls basketball Thursday. Megan Doody of Neuqua puts up a shot while Lori Obendorf of Metea tries to block during game action. PAUL MICHNA/Pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Lori Obendorf of Metea takes a shot during the Metea at Neuqua girls basketball game Thursday. PAUL MICHNA/Pmichna@dailyherald.com