Bryant free throw gives Metea Valley winning margin vs. Neuqua Valley
It's been a rough season for the Metea Valley boys basketball team especially in DuPage Valley Conference play.
But on Friday night in Naperville, it all came together for the Mustangs beating host Neuqua Valley 60-59. It was Metea's first conference of the season.
"I'm happy for the kids. They have fought so hard. There have been so many close games," said Mustangs coach Matt Logan. "We've struggled to get out to good starts. We got behind at the start the other night against Waubonsie and lost in overtime."
It was not a game of big leads. Metea enjoyed a 17-7 advantage with just under four minutes in the opening quarter. Otherwise, it was single-digit leads for both squads the rest of the contest.
Neuqua's final lead of the night game came as Erikas Gurskas made it through the crowded lane for a layup that put his team up 59-58 with 31.5 seconds left.
Metea's Jahki Gray, who scored a game-high 18 points, made the first of two free-throw attempts to tie the game with 12.6 seconds remaining.
Enter the Mustangs' Michael Bryant.
He was fouled and went to the line with 5.8 seconds left. He made his first attempt to make it 60-59, and that held for the victory.
"I knew I had to make the shot to get the win," Bryant said. "It was really crucial to get things going at the start. We've been struggling and this shows we can compete with anybody."
Metea (9-17, 1-8) did get out of the gate quickly and made four of its first five 3-point basket attempts. Two came courtesy of Gray and two from Nicholas Schroeder, who finished with 13 points.
A 3 from Jackson Corbett gave the Mustangs that 17-7 lead, but Neuqua finished on an 8-0 run to trail just 17-15 at the end of the first eight minutes. The Wildcats (17-8, 6-3) led by as much as 7 in the second period when Bryan Thomas hit two free throws to make it 24-17.
Gray's third 3 of the first half pulled Metea to within 29-26 at halftime.
"We hit our first 3-point attempts and then we got dependent on the 3, but the guys were able to finish at the rim," Logan said.
Quentin Schaffer also scored in double digits for the Mustangs with 12.
The victory gave a boost to a team that has been competitive but has not been able to translate that effort into wins.
"Everything is beginning to turn around. We're going to win more games," Gray said.
Neuqua was led in scoring by Luke Kinkade with 15 and Jayden Dean with 10.
Wildcats assistant coach Tyler Sutton said Neuqua's defense needed a better night against Metea.
"In the second half, we fouled too much and we couldn't play 1-on-1 and keep people out of the lane," he said. "Metea has improved. They shot the ball well, moved the ball very well and were more physical than us."