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Eminger, Neuqua Valley crash the boards to beat Glenbard East

For a Neuqua Valley boys basketball team with so many scoring weapons, senior Jacob Eminger is finding another way to contribute.

"I want to get a lot of rebounds. That's one of the things I like to try and do a lot for the team," Eminger said.

Eminger was among three Wildcats scoring in double figures Saturday, but he also was co-leader for a dominating team effort on the boards that was the primary difference in a 68-45 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory over Glenbard East in Naperville.

Neuqua (7-1, 3-1) led 32-22 at halftime on the strength of an eye-popping 26-9 rebounding advantage, including 16-1 on the offensive boards. Glenbard East (4-4, 2-2) never got closer than 8 points in the second half.

"We have a lot of long players and try to crash the boards, but 16, that's a lot," Eminger said. "That's what our coach (Todd Sutton) told us, to keep crashing the boards. We got a lot of offensive rebounds, putbacks. Shots aren't always going to fall, but rebounds definitely kept us in that game and got us the win."

Connor Raridon and Demond George each had 15 points for the Wildcats, and Eminger added 12. The Rams' Zach Walsh and Terrance Lakes scord 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Both teams were coming off their first UEC defeats. The Wildcats lost 59-54 at Bartlett Friday, and the Rams lost 72-38 at home Thursday to West Aurora, which was back at full strength. West Aurora (5-3, 3-1) visits Neuqua on Friday.

"Last night we lost the boards and we lost the game. That's probably the most important stat we have this year, our rebounding," Sutton said. "When you control the glass, you get out on your running game, you get the ball up court. When the shots aren't falling, like our 3-point shots haven't been falling, (but) you get offensive boards, you're either getting fouled or you're putting it in."

Eminger and Raridon each had 8 rebounds and reserve Logan Wallace added 6.

Eminger had a team-best 6 points in the second quarter with one putback. After the Rams cut a 17-11 deficit after the first quarter to one point during the second, the Wildcats had a scoring sequence in which they got consecutive offensive rebounds off missed free throws by Raridon - one that Raridon even snagged himself.

"Down 10 at the half, we gave up 7 points off missed free throws," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "They're very talented, very skilled. It just came down to we're undersized down there. We have to do a better job of rebounding, but those are things we can work on."

Neuqua was only 2 for 12 in 3-point shooting in the first half but then had three 3s in the third from Eminger, George and Joe Sieger. Glenbard East, however, attacked the basket more and was still in contention at 48-38 after three quarters by hitting 15 of 31 shots with four 3s.

"I thought we did a much, much better job of taking care of the basketball (than Thursday) and then kind of ran out of gas there at the end," Miller said.

The Wildcats seized control for good at the outset of the fourth quarter behind an 8-point period from George, who also fed Zach Lendino to complete a fastbreak.

"We didn't really get into the flow of our game yesterday, so we tried to come out and play harder and just have an overall better game," Eminger said. "It felt like it could have been better on all levels and today we played a lot harder. Just the ability to bounce back from a tough loss, mentally bounce back (was encouraging)."

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