Neuqua hears the talk, walks the walk
Neuqua Valley boys basketball coach Todd Sutton readies the stump speech when he sees the Wildcats aren't working hard enough for good shots.
"What makes it click is Benet was up 18-4 on us and we did the same thing that game," Sutton said. "You just mention that and they go, 'OK, yeah, we took a lot of bad shots that game, too.' That's all it's going to take."
Metea Valley forced 30 percent first-half shooting, but Sutton's halftime talk boosted that to 54 percent in the second half. Neuqua won 65-52 in its Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division opener.
"I thought they out-executed us early in the third quarter and then we're forced to chase a really good team who's really smart, can hit free throws and put the game away a little bit," said Metea coach Bob Vozza.
Neuqua (5-0, 1-0) foreshadowed the second half on Joe Sieger's 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 24-20 halftime lead.
"A great momentum getter," Sutton said, whose boys indeed made free throws, 15 of 21 to Metea's 5 of 8.
Jacob Eminger scored 11 straight points in two minutes early in the third quarter. The 6-foot-4 forward hit a pair of 3s, converted a conventional three-point play and scored over two defenders for a 37-22 Wildcats lead at 5:03 of the third quarter.
"It's just about executing and running our stuff, setting screens and getting the best shot," said Wildcats senior Connor Raridon, who scored a team-high 15 points with 8 rebounds. Eminger scored 14 and Demond George added 13.
Two first-quarter fouls tipped George off his game early, but he shook loose in the fourth. Neuqua up 41-32 after three quarters, the senior point guard scored 11 points and Sieger added another 3 for a 55-41 margin with 3:38 to play.
"(Assistant) Coach (Mike) O'Toole just told me to start pushing the ball," said George, who snagged 4 steals. "Said I'm no longer in foul trouble, get up the court, get in the lane and make plays."
Metea Valley (3-3, 1-1) had been successful in the first quarter going to center Mark Konkle, and the 6-6 senior added an early fourth-quarter flurry to finish with a team-high 15 points and 7 rebounds.
Once the margin widened the Mustangs turned to Nick Dodson on the perimeter. The senior made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points. Tristan Schlosser scored 10 for the Mustangs.
"Coach had a really good game plan defensively coming back out at half," said Konkle, who has a Butler offer to play football. "(Neuqua) just executed some of their plays. They got hot from the 3-point line, which is kind of their game a little bit."