Less than two hours after pulling out a win against Zion-Benton, Neuqua Valley was back on the floor against Normal Community, another of the state’s top 4A teams, in Hononegah’s Martin Luther King Tournament in Rockton on Monday.
Like their first win of the day, the No. 11 Wildcats (19-1) had to claw and fight to the end to defeat Normal Community, too. Neuqua Valley finished a perfect 4-0 MLK weekend with a 59-51 win over the Woodmen.
Defense carried the Wildcats in the nightcap. Neuqua Valley struggled to score on a consistent basis throughout the game, but found itself ahead 51-49 with 3:34 left in the game. From there, the defense really kicked in. It wouldn’t be until there were 10 seconds left in the game that Normal Community would score again.
“We rely on our defense,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “We sure needed it today. We were brutal.”
The lone offensive bright spot for the Wildcats was junior guard Rahjan Muhammad. Muhammad was the one who knocked down Neuqua Valley’s first field goal after it started the game 0-for-7. He was also the one who drained a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to snap the team out of three-minute scoreless drought.
He finished with a team-high 17 points, which included three threes.
“I had a bad weekend,” Muhammad said. “My shot wasn’t falling. It finally got rolling today.”
Derek Raridon (14 points) and Nolan Brown (five steals) contributed in the win.
Close
Community Login
You've successfully logged in to the Sun-Times Media Community, click the close button to return to browsing.
Facebook App
Font Size
Email
Bookmark
Black Text
Cell Phone Alerts