advertisement

Neuqua Valley falls short against Joliet West

Playoff basketball games between 12 and 5 seeds seem to corner the market on upsets.

A No. 14 against a No. 3? That's tough - but the Neuqua Valley boys nearly pulled it off on Tuesday in Naperville.

Trailing No. 3 Joliet West 50-48 out of a timeout with 24.8 seconds to play, No. 14 Neuqua Valley got the ball to Jacob Cushing. The 6-foot-8 senior dribbled to above the top of the key then drove hard right. From the foul line extended he rose for a 16-foot shot to tie.

The Tigers' 6-4 Elijah Ward rose, too, denying the shot with the rebound angling to Joliet West's Trevian Bell.

Fouled with 1.6 seconds left Bell missed both free throws, but with no timeouts remaining Cushing could only grab the ninth rebound and rush a three-quarters-court heave.

It fell short and Joliet West (18-9) won 50-48 to advance to Friday's Class 4A Neuqua Valley regional final against No. 6 Plainfield North.

"Ryan (Phillips) got pressured and I knew I had to come to the ball to save him, and we didn't have any timeouts so we couldn't save ourselves by doing that. I tried to make a play, thought I got fouled, but it is what it is," said Cushing, a Cal-Poly recruit who scored 13 points, in between Joe Sieger's 14 and Phillips' 10.

Teyvion Kirk led Joliet West with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.

"He's a good defender against a good offensive player. What else would you want in a high school game?" Joliet West coach Nick DiForti said of the Ward-Cushing finale.

In a game of 11 lead changes and four ties, Neuqua Valley (11-19) led 46-45 on Cushing's steal and two-handed dunk with 2:16 to play.

That was the Wildcats' last field goal of the game. Joliet West forced 3 of Neuqua's 19 turnovers and went up 49-46. Cushing hit two free throws to get within 49-48 with 53.3 seconds left.

"I think we did let up a little too many turnovers, which ultimately kind of made us lose the game," Phillips said. "But I think we still put up a good effort and I'm proud of our team."

On a loose ball tie-up Joliet West was awarded possession and with 34.8 seconds left Bell's free throw gave the Tigers their 50-48 margin.

"Proud of the effort, disappointed in the loss," Sutton said after the end of his 26th season, 17 of them at Neuqua.

"The effort was wonderful," he said. "We had the lead, you blow the lead, it doesn't make you feel very good. But as coaches, winning and losing is secondary to effort, heart and pride. And last night (a win over Lincoln-Way East) I thought we had it and this whole game I thought we had those things."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.