The 3-point shot wasn’t falling for Neuqua Valley on Monday afternoon against Wheaton Warrenville South, so the Wildcats took care of business the old fashioned way against the Tigers.

They played great defense, rebounded and went to the inside game.

Neuqua Valley junior Luke Balgro, who is making a big impact for his team in his first full year on varsity, led the way for the Wildcats with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds in a 66-36 victory over the Tigers in the final game of the 12th annual WWS Martin Luther King Basketball Showcase.

Neuqua Valley, now 19-1 on the season, shot only 5-for-21 from long range but Balgro, a 6-3 forward, along with classmate Danny Mikuta (8 points, all in the first half) picked up the slack in the paint.

“We knew that they (WWS) were going to come out in a triangle two or zone (defense),” Balgro said. “So we practiced for that. We know how to work around it and crash the boards.”

WW South (11-7) was able to hang in the contest for a good portion of the first half, led by nine points apiece from David Showman and Zach Rogers. But the Tigers fell victim to some cold shooting of their own, finishing 4-of-29 from 3-point range.

“They (Neuqua Valley) are a really, really tough team,” said WWS coach Mike Healy. “But I’m not sure that they’re 30 points better than us. Some things didn’t go the way we wanted them to today, but that’s our own fault.”

The game was competitive early. A dunk from Neuqua Valley sophomore Cole Kelly gave the Wildcats a 9-6 lead with four minutes gone in the first quarter, but the Tigers quickly tied things up on a three-point play by Rogers.

The Wildcats started to take control early in the second stanza. Consecutive layups from Mikuta gave them a 26-17 advantage , and they closed out the half with a 34-20 lead after three free throws by Mason Martin (14 points).

Martin opened the third quarter with a 3, and when the buzzer sounded at the end of the period, the Wildcats had extended the lead to 53-29.

Both teams substituted freely in the fourth quarter as the bench players for both squads got some extended playing time. Six-foot-10 senior Darlin Aghomi from Neuqua Valley did a nice job in the final period with three points and a couple of boards.

Senior Brody Faulstich scored five points for WWS. Healy said his team will use the experience they gained from playing one of the top teams in the state as a teaching tool.

“We mixed things up,” Healy said. “We changed a few things up a little bit (today). We choose our schedule, and we wanted to play the best team here (at the tourney), and our kids did too. If we use this and learn from it down the line, it’ll be a good thing for us.”

Neuqua Valley junior Arshil Khimani followed up his 18-point effort in Saturday’s invitational win over Normal with nine points Monday, while Kelly scored nine as well.

Balgro, who said he spent a couple of weeks up with varsity as a practice player last year as a sophomore, said his role on the team this campaign is well-defined.

“You’ve got to do a little bit of everything,” he said. “Play defense, work hard, bring the energy and get the boards.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260119/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-neuqua-valley-wins-big-in-final-game-of-ww-souths-mlk-showcase/