Neuqua Valley boys basketball starts its playoff journey against the East Aurora Tomcats. East Aurora comes off a victory against Plainfield Central in the regional quarterfinals. The Wildcats come off an impressive regular season, undefeated in conference at 10-0 with an overall record of 30-1, as they hope to continue their historic season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua jumps out to a hot start
The Neuqua offense starts strong as Cole Kelly, Luke Balgro, and Mason Martin combine for the Wildcats’ opening eight points of the game as the team comes out firing.
East Aurora would respond as Daivon Douglas scores three points to get the Tomcats on the board.
The Tomcats look to keep the offense going as Jamir Malone adds two more points for East Aurora, who trails just 11-7 in the early going.
Mason Martin pours in the points for Neuqua
Mason Martin doesn’t need much space to make something happen. He crosses over a defender for the score and knocks down a deep-range three as Neuqua leads 24-15 to end the first.
East Aurora looks to pick up the offense in the second quarter, but the shot is no good, Cole Kelly secures the rebound, and tosses the outlet to Martin for the easy two points.
The Tomcats want to keep the offensive attack open as Tyrone Evans knocks down a three-point shot to keep the Tomcats alive.
The Wildcat offense is relentless as Martin and Kelly combine for five points, forcing East Aurora to take a timeout. Neuqua leads 35-21 midway through the second. Martin pours in 30 points on the night.
The Wildcats run away in the second half
Neuqua doesn’t let up on the gas pedal as Carter Coviello locates Luke Balgro, and he knocks down a three-pointer, 14 points on the night for Balgro, as Neuqua holds a commanding 53-27 lead at halftime.
The Wildcats continue to pour it on with another three-pointer. This time, it’s Andrew Hoffman finding Arshil Khimani, who drills it.
This one is all Neuqua Valley as Darlin Aghomi, the big man from Ghana, gets the block and takes it all the way, slamming it home for the Wildcats as the bench erupts. Neuqua easily rolls past East Aurora 90-46 and advances on to the regional championship, where the Cats will look to avenge their only loss of the season against Oswego East.
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