Not this time. Not in my house.
That was what was going through the head of Neuqua Valley star Cole Kelly and his teammates Friday night as they geared up to play an Oswego East team that handed the Wildcats their only loss early this season.
In the Class 4A regional final at Neuqua Valley, the visiting Wolves sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the first half and then closed the gap to six to start the third quarter. But what little momentum they had disappeared when Kelly scored inside and then followed with a steal, a bucket and an and-1.
It was just the beginning of a dominating second half in which Kelly scored 20 points with strong drive after strong drive, powering the Wildcats to an 80-51 victory and a trip to Wednesday’s sectional semifinal against Bolingbrook.
Kelly finished the game with 36 points and seven rebounds, and Illinois commit Mason Martin added 22 points as the squad improved to 32-1 on the year and avenged that early loss to Oswego East (20-12).
Neuqua advanced to face Bolingbrook on Wednesday in a sectional at Bolingbrook.
“Obviously this was a revenge game for me,” said Kelly, who talked with reporters while signing autographs and taking photos with fans. “They hold our only loss of the year. I was going to do anything I could to win this game.”
The sophomore sharpshooter knocked down a pair of 3s as the Wildcats charged out to a 25-12 lead after one quarter, but the rest of his points came in the paint. Time after time Kelly drove hard and worked his way to the rim, banking in several buckets off the glass and adding a fourth-quarter dunk to put an exclamation point on his big night.
“It wasn’t the 3-point line. They were guarding me at the 3-point line, so I was getting to the rack. Scoring in ways that I know that I can and it led to a 30-point victory tonight,” Kelly said. “I’ve had a lot of games where I fill it up beyond the arc, but to have a game where I score 36 on mostly 2s is something I don’t do normally. I think playing at home and in front of your home crowd is something special, and obviously all 13 of us were hungry to get this one back.”
It was the first regional crown for Kelly after Neuqua Valley came up short his freshman year, losing to Waubonsie Valley in the regional final. The duo of Kelly and Martin, when on, creates havoc for opponents.
“Those guys are really good,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “Credit to Neuqua Valley; that’s a great program. I’ve known Todd Sutton for a long time. He’s just a tremendous coach who gets the most out of his players. And those two guys gave us some fits tonight.”
Even so, the Wolves held their own for more than a half. DePaul recruit Mason Lockett’s 3 at the close of the first half made the score 37-29, and the deficit dropped to six after Lockett, who scored 18 points, opened the third quarter with a layup.
“Yeah, I thought we did have some momentum going into that third. We wanted to come out and control the first three minutes, and it just didn’t go that way,” said Velasquez, whose teams have fallen in the regional final three straight years. “But these are great young men. They came to work every single day.”
Martin helped cut the basketball net down and was wearing it around his neck while talking about Kelly’s dominant effort on Friday.
“That was super fun to watch. He’s obviously a great player. I think he’s the best player in Illinois,” Martin said. “He makes everybody on the floor better. If he’s not scoring, he’s one of the best passers I’ve ever played with.”
Sutton has witnessed his star set up teammates with many a great pass. In the second half of the regional final, he saw a different side of Kelly’s game.
“Throughout the year we’ve tried to develop multiple options so it’s not the Cole show and the Mason show,” Sutton said. “So he’s had to defer to Danny (Mikuta) and Luke (Balgro) and Carter (Coviello) and Darius (Brockington) led us in scoring the other night against Naperville North. So his points have been shrinking. … Tonight he said screw it, I’m taking over.”
And that he did.