Neuqua Valley’s Joe Sieger knew exactly what it would take to end a nine-game losing streak.
“You’ve always got to bring your ‘A’ game every game, especially when you need to bounce back from several losses in a row,” Sieger said. “We needed to get back on track after losing so many.”
Neuqua Valley put together an “A” game Friday night and ended its skid with a 72-53 DuPage Valley Conference win over visiting Naperville Central.
Neuqua (7-15, 3-7) extended a 14-10 lead in the first quarter to 26-18 by halftime. The Wildcats controlled much of the second half. They led 48-34 after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth.
“I felt like we were in control pretty much the whole game,” Sieger said. “In games you have to come back from a lot, you have to keep making runs. It was kind of the other way around this game. We played great defense.”
Sieger, a senior guard, scored a game-high 24 points, including nine in the decisive third quarter.
Naperville Central (12-8, 6-4) also had trouble with 6-foot-8 Jacob Cushing (18 points, 6 rebounds), 6-7 Alex Filo (14 points, 9 rebounds) and point guard Ryan Phillips dishing out the assists.
“We just had a lot of people get involved,” Sieger said. “A lot of people hitting shots, a lot of people were playing great defense. I think we exploited them when we were on offense. If they made a mistake, we were capitalizing on it.”
Phillips grabbed six rebounds in addition to handling the ball and setting up Sieger, Cushing and Filo.
“It was really important for us to slow down the tempo and try to play team basketball,” Phillips said. “I tried to get the ball to my teammates and I’m thankful to them that they scored.”
Neuqua lost at Naperville Central in December when Matthew Meier had 29 points for the RedHawks.
“I think we did a better job of shutting down their two best players — Matthew Meier and Harry Hallstrom,” Phillips said. “We doubled the post and we took away Meier’s drives. We also played a lot better team basketball.”
That wasn’t true for the Redhawks.
“Some things carried over from a poor practice (Thursday) and kind of sprinkled throughout the game,” Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said. “At times we couldn’t score, and at times we couldn’t get stops.”
Hallstrom led Central with 15 points. Meier was held to 11.
“We were doing what Neuqua is supposed to do,” Neuqua coach Todd Sutton said. “Play team basketball. Have balanced scoring. Play defense. Rebound and don’t turn it over.”
Neuqua’s final home game is Friday against conference rival Wheaton-Warrenville South.
“We could definitely use this win as a springboard to get us playing better in the conference, and playing better in the playoffs,” Sieger said. “If we can do this against (Naperville), we can do that against anybody in the conference.”
Tim Tierney is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
