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Ruggles steps up for WW South

Neuqua Valley was ready for the girls basketball rematch at Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday.

So were the Tigers' Mira Emma and fellow junior guard Kylie Ruggles.

On the Tigers' first two possessions, the closely watched Emma instead passed to Ruggles, who nailed both 3-pointers.

"A lot of us knew that they were going to be all over Mira and we had to do stuff to get open," Ruggles said. "We're all big scorers on the team. We can't do it without every one of us. We all do it together."

Ruggles' shooting set the tone for a great first half that carried the red-hot Tigers to a 42-28 DuPage Valley Conference victory in Wheaton.

The Tigers (19-3, 9-2) won their seventh straight and 11th in their last 12 and held an opponent to fewer than 30 points for the 12th time. They opened a 26-9 halftime lead and then withstood an inspired second half by Neuqua (8-12, 3-7), which closed to 10 points twice in the final three minutes.

The Tigers are home Thursday against DVC leader Naperville Central (22-4, 12-0).

"It was our finals week, so we were just trying to see how we'd come out mentally even more than physically," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said.

"I thought we had a great start. The kids were fantastic on defense, getting a lot of deflections, a lot of steals. We shot tremendously well, and that helped. (But) turnovers were a little high."

WW South senior Jayla Johnson had 14 points, Ruggles 11 points with three 3s, and junior MacKenzie Stebbins added 8 points and 6 rebounds.

Neuqua seniors Megan Callahan and Jasmine Walker came off the bench for 9 and 8 points, respectively. Emma, who took just 2 shots, scored 2 points on free throws with 6 rebounds.

The Tigers won the first meeting 58-27 after leading 30-5 at halftime when Emma had a big game. In Saturday's first half, the Tigers hit 9 of 17 shots and 6 of 9 free throws and made 10 steals, 3 each by Ruggles and senior Kennedy Youngblood.

Neuqua endured a rough first half of shooting against the Tigers' 1-2-2 zone defense.

"We were 2 of 19. That's a killer," Neuqua coach Mike Williams said.

Neuqua responded well to close to 36-26 on a Callahan 3 and 38-28 on Walker free throws with 1:50 left. The Tigers then twice eluded pressure for easy baskets by Maria Dohse and Stebbins.

"They came out a little stronger than the first time," Johnson said. "It was (frustrating) because of their defense and we were just turning the ball over too many times, not competing at the level we knew we can be at."

"At times we didn't look good, but other times we did," Kroehnke added. "I think we were able to weather the storm in the second half because we played so well in the first half."

Neuqua made 6 of 18 shots in the second half and dialed up its 2-3 zone with trapping up top. The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 19-16 and contributed to 20 turnovers overall.

"The second half, the more shots we make, we're right there," Williams said. "If you've been around this game long enough, it's about a team believing in what they're doing and believing in themselves. Once they start doing that, they'll be fine."

Walker and Callahan each had 5 of the Wildcats' 10 fourth-quarter points.

"I hope we take the second half from today and keep moving on," Walker added. "That's a statement of how we can play. We just have to play both halves. We weren't driving and penetrating enough (the first half) to dish and to get the shots to fall. We were taking contested bad shots."

The Tigers were missing two key reserves Saturday because of illness or injury. Kroehnke recently brought Clorox disinfecting wipes to practice, even cleaning the basketballs.

"This is the time of year where everybody gets hurt and sick so we're trying to be careful," Ruggles said. "We're really getting at it more (in practice), making sure we're focusing more because this is the big part of the season where it really matters."

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