Neuqua Valley slips past Naperville North
Myia Starks and Kai Moon have played an awful lot of basketball together the last four years at Neuqua Valley. They made sure that the run did not come to a close Wednesday night.
The veteran guards combined for 35 points and went a combined 14 for 15 from the free-throw line in the second half as the Wildcats knocked off Naperville North 51-43 in the second semifinal of the Class 4A Yorkville regional. Neuqua Valley notched its 20th win of the year - third over the Huskies - and advanced to Thursday's regional final against Yorkville.
"I'm really excited. I'm really confident right now," said Starks, who led all scorers with 19 points. "I don't want to end playing with my best friend over there, Kai."
With Starks knocking down a trio of 3s in the first half and then making all 8 of her foul shots in the second half, the Wildcats withstood a charge from Naperville North (12-15) at the opening of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats led 41-23 after three quarters after Megan Callahan closed the third quarter with a 3-pointer for the fifth-seeded Wildcats.
But No. 12 Naperville North stormed back to within 41-37 by scoring the first 9 points of the final quarter, before Neuqua Valley regrouped and then hung on with some strong free-throw shooting. The Huskies' run to open the quarter started with two free throws from Allie Hamman and also featured a steal and basket by senior Laurel Pereira and a fastbreak layup by Morgan Lockridge that made the score 41-37 with four minutes left to play.
Pereira closed out her senior season with 11 points and 9 rebounds, while fellow Huskies seniors CeCe Pope and Sophia Fumagalli also finished on high notes.
"I love the fight. We played really well," said Huskies coach Jason Dycus, whose team lost three tight battles to the Wildcats this season. "I think the way we battled showed a testament to our girls' character. That was a great high school girls basketball game. I think that's where the balance of the game was - Neuqua made their free throws and we didn't."
The Huskies went 10 for 20 from the free-throw line compared to 21 for 26 for the Wildcats. Moon tallied 11 of her 16 points from the line for Neuqua. Even so, Fumagalli, like her coach, had no trouble holding her head high after the game.
"I'm definitely proud of the effort we got from all of the girls," said Fumagalli, who scored 7 of her 11 points in the second half. "It's always tough when you lose a close game like this, but I couldn't be more proud of the effort we gave and the heart that we displayed at the end of the game."