Neuqua Valley makes its free throws, beats Metea Valley

There were strong individual performances from the Neuqua Valley boys basketball team on Friday night at Metea Valley.

However, in general terms, the Wildcats prevailed 72-70 thanks to free-throw shooting and rebounding.

Neuqua (11-14, 3-4 DuPage Valley Conference) made 10 of 12 free throws in its 24-point fourth quarter and finished 24 of 35 in that category overall.

"We never make free throws. Tonight, we made free throws," said Wildcats coach Todd Sutton.

Metea (12-14, 2-5) controlled the rebounding 14-6 in the first two quarters although Neuqua led 32-31 at halftime.

"We crushed them on the boards in the second half," Sutton said.

With 1:07 left in the game, Neuqua's Mark Gronowski was left alone for a layup that put the Wildcats up 68-63.

Ethan Helwig sank his sixth and final 3-point basket of the night to put Metea to within 68-66.

Helwig finished with a game-high 33 points and was 8 of 8 in free throws in the fourth quarter.

"He's a warrior. He battles and battles," said Metea coach Matt Walpole. "He took big shots, made free throws and kept us in the game."

The last 32.5 seconds of the game was all free throws. The Wildcats were 4 of 6 from the line with Metea 4 of 5, including three from Helwig after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.

The Mustangs pulled to within 1 with 7.3 seconds left, but Neuqua held on.

Sutton praised his team overall, and three Wildcats scored in double digits. Connor Davis led his team with 27 points. Patrick Hoffman finished with 11 and Mark Gronowski put through 10.

"We knew we had to stop them, get on a roll and keep on going," Gronowski said. "In the first game we played too slow. We played a lot faster tonight and played a lot better defense." Metea beat Neuqua 57-53 on Jan. 29.

Myles Leavy and Tahj Morgan each contributed 10 points for the Mustangs. Walpole also spoke of Manny Hess' performance.

"Tosh had a heck of game and Manny is the quarterback out there," he said.

Jens Petersen got the Metea side of the gym rocking when his dunk put the Mustangs up 50-42 with 1:19 left in the third quarter. Neuqua finished the period on a 6-0 run.

"We have to be able to hold on to a lead and extend it," Walpole said. "We have been in every game, but we've struggled with that."