Vigorous effort from Lincoln-Way Central keys win over Neuqua Valley

NEW LENOX – Lincoln-Way Central coach Brian Flaherty wasn’t sure what kind of effort he was going to get from his Knights roster on Saturday afternoon at the Lincoln-Way West Shootout.

After all, his Knights were less than a day removed from their worst offensive output of the season in a loss to Bradley-Bourbonnais.

As it turned out, Flaherty needed not worry about his team’s ability to bounce back as it turned in one of its better efforts of the season in a 71-53 victory over Neuqua Valley.

“In high school basketball throughout the season, you are always going to have a couple of duds and yesterday we didn’t see the ball going through the basketball hoop and we let it dictate all other areas of our game,” Flaherty said. “I don’t want losses like that, but if that was a little bit of a wake up call for what we have to do, then fine, that’s going to be helpful down the line.”

Lincoln-Way Central (18-8) showed little to no signs of dwelling on Friday night’s loss from the get-go. A strong first half from Korey Cagnolatti set the pace as the senior guard scored 14 points on his way to a game-high 22 points.

Also providing a healthy chunk of offense to the cause was Kevin Barrett, who sliced up the Neuqua Valley defense on multiple attacks to the basket.

“I wasn’t exactly pleased with how I got around the rim and my shots around the rim last night,” Barrett said. “So I made an emphasis today to get to the rim and get some easy points.”

Easy points were abundant for Lincoln-Way Central as Lucas Andresen (12 points) and Jack Rimkunas (nine points) worked the lane successfully while Alex Panos also chipped in eight points to give the Knights the offensive balance they thrive on.

“We just felt connected today,” Barrett said. “We were firing on all cylinders. We all play for each other and that big for us.”

That unselfish play was most evident in the second quarter where five different Knights scored and Lincoln-Way Central outscored Neuqua Valley 23-9 and took a double-digit lead into halftime (38-27).

The Wildcats (15-10) trimmed the lead down to seven once in the third quarter, but the Knights responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead back to comfortable.

Neuqua Valley would only see the lead under double digits once more late in the third quarter and Lincoln-Way Central ripped off a 10-0 run early in the fourth to push the lead to 20 and cement its eventual victory.

Cole Kelly led Neuqua Valley with 19 points, all in the first three quarters. Kelly, like the Wildcats, were held in check in the fourth quarter as they didn’t connect from the field for the first six minutes of the final frame.