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Neuqua Valley storms to regional victory

Neuqua Valley's mission was to start fast, and on Monday night at Joliet West that mission was accomplished.

The Wildcats hit a pair of technical foul free throws before the opening tip and stormed ahead of the host Tigers 11-1. They went on to a 71-52 victory in the Class 4A regional opener that advances No. 14 Neuqua Valley into Tuesday's semifinal against third-seeded Oswego East.

Sophomore John Poulakidas connected on the two free throws - assessed after a rim violation by Joliet West during warmups - and then buried a jumper to put his team ahead 4-0 after one possession. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter then added another midrange jumper followed by a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a quick 16-5 Wildcats lead midway through the opening quarter.

"In the first quarter I started out hot and honestly that helped me with my confidence," Poulakidas said.

He added a pair of 3s in the second half on his way to a game-high 25 points against a Tigers team that had fallen to the Wildcats earlier this season.

"Coach told us that that game in the past meant nothing. So we came in with the mindset that we hadn't played them before, that it was a new team. And tonight we did what we had to do," Poulakidas said.

What the Wildcats did was move the ball around well, get good looks at the basket and bury plenty of shots. The team made 7 of 11 shots for a 22-13 lead after one quarter and shot 12 for 20 while building a 36-24 lead at halftime.

But Neuqua Valley (14-17) also played some solid defense against a quick Joliet West squad. Joliet West guard Jamere Hill tallied 11 points in the first quarter and finished the night with 19.

"We made a lot of great passes to get open shots, they made shots and we looked good tonight," Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. "We worked a lot for this on defense. A lot of ball screen. It's very difficult to guard. That's what they do. Hill is so good off the ball. It was pretty much the same (as last time). They get in the lane and drive us crazy, but we made shots both games."

Fellow forward Connor Davis joined Poulakidas in double figures, recording 11 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

"Our goal is to run our plays well on offense and we executed well tonight," said Davis, who knocked down a 3 early in the second half for a 39-26 lead following a pair of foul shots by Hill. "And we also locked up on defense, which helped our offense.

"As soon as we stopped them we ran out in transition, got us open shots, and got our wings coming out … we got the ball, got easy shots and easy looks."

Tigers coach Nick DiForti was impressed with the Wildcats offense, which helped end his team's year at 5-16.

"I wish we had played the first quarter the way we did the second," the Joliet West coach said.

"You give a team like that momentum … they're good shooters. They attack the rim very well and opened it up a lot for them.

"Then we had to play catchup the entire game. We got it to 10, but we were trading baskets and we couldn't break 10 for a while. They're a well-oiled machine. They run their stuff very well even with the pressure we played on them."

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