Callahan, Neuqua Valley power past Metea Valley

It's always better to make your coach cheer you on rather than wonder why things aren't going well.

That's why Neuqua Valley's Megan Callahan enjoyed Thursday's second half much more than the first two quarters played at Metea Valley.

Callahan's outside shots were not falling in a first half in which she tallied just 1 point and the host Mustangs led this DuPage Valley Conference opener 23-22. But Callahan and the Wildcats' pressure defense caught fire in the third quarter and powered Neuqua Valley to a 54-40 victory.

The senior guard hit a trio of 3-pointers while going for 13 points in the third quarter, as a 20-10 dominating quarter by the visitors turned the game around.

"I turned up the pressure and I thought Meghan Callahan answered the call," Wildcats coach Mike Williams said. "We challenged her a little bit at halftime. When she plays like that, when she plays like that and dives out of bounds and gets steals and makes things happen, it's contagious. The other kids want to do something."

While Callahan had the hot hand on her way to 15 second-half points, it was a total team defensive effort that turned the tide. Jada Harvey, who missed two of the last three seasons with knee injuries, had four steals on the night and Neuqua Valley forced eight turnovers in the third quarter alone - many of which turned into quick points.

"The press really motivated us," said Callahan, a 5-foot-6 senior. "It gets us to go and it gets us steals and yeah, we pretty much converted them all to points. The points rack up and you get steals again and it keeps going over and over."

The Neuqua Valley coach said that stretch of play seemed to fire up everyone on his team.

"You get that contagious atmosphere and players are saying I want to do that, I want to make that play. I want coach to cheer me instead of saying, 'Hey what are you doing?' "

For the Mustangs, who like the Wildcats are now 3-3 on the year, it was a solid first half and aside from the rough stretch in the third quarter a nice effort from the young squad. Junior center Tess Thompson paced the Mustangs with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Jamairrah Woods also pulled in 7 rebounds.

"I think our team came out and played a tremendous game," Metea Valley coach Cedric Williams said. "They played with some great effort and they played with some heart. This is a young team that we have, but I think they're doing a very good job right now."