Neuqua Valley moves on from loss

Neuqua Valley made up for the disappointment of Saturday’s loss at the 48th annual East Aurora Holiday Tournament by drubbing Prosser in the third-place game.

The Wildcats, led by Connor Raridon’s 19 points and 18 from Josh Piotrowski, beat the Chicago team 80-44 on Monday at Kivisto Gymnasium.

“We didn’t really want to be in this game, but we knew we had to go out and we had to play had no matter who it was. Any time we step on the court we’ve got to give it our all and we did that and we came out on top tonight,” said Raridon, who scored 14 points in a first quarter Neuqua Valley (10-3) led 27-3.

Scoring the first 13 points, capped by a Piotrowski steal and assist on a Raridon layup, Neuqua Valley made sure Prosser (9-5) was never in the game.

Wildcats coach Todd Sutton went to his bench liberally, and early, with Alex Edwards, Tyler Tesmond, Jacob Eminger, Zach Lendino and Jordon Kedrowski playing big minutes. Eminger led that group with 10 points.

Prosser guard Darnell Lathen headed up for 12 of his 13 points in the second quarter, but Neuqua still led 45-23 at halftime.

Piotrowski paced a 16-0 run to start the third quarter, for a 61-23 Wildcats lead, and it was all but done.

“We just needed to get better,” Sutton said.

“I think we just got back to focusing on the little things — setting screens, moving the ball,” said Raridon, a second-team all-tourney pick along with forward Elijah Robertson. “A lot of things we missed in the Geneva game, just simple things, we sharpened up.”