Junior guard John Poulakidas scored a career high and school record 49 points tonight in Neuqua Valley's upset victory over Bolingbrook. He was hitting shots from three, mid range pull ups, Dirk Nowtizki type fall aways, driving lay ups. He missed five free throws though and that kept him from hitting 50 points or more. It's still the best performance I've seen all year. Still, Neuqua Valley had to win this game three different times as they had a double digit lead for most of the fourth quarter. Bolingbrook's outstanding guard Darius Burford(17 points) fouled out at the 3:32 mark in the fourth quarter with Neuqua Valley in control. They had a 10 point lead with 2 minutes left in the game, but missed free throws, turnovers, and an inability to stop Bolingbrook down the stretch allowed the Raiders to tie the game at 83 with 16 seconds left in regulation. The Wildcats had a chance to win the game, but Poulakidas missed a three pointer at the end of regulation. Poulakidas went down with a cramp after the shot which limited him to 1 minute combined in both overtime periods. He scored 1 point in the overtimes. He had a shot to win it in overtime but missed a 15 footer and it was 85 all going into overtime number 2. Neuqua Valley finally made the defensive stops they needed and had a three point lead with 12 seconds to go. Bolingbrook had a last chance at a three pointer which was an air ball. The Wildcats secured the rebound and dribbled out the clock for the upset. Junior guard Connor Davis supported Poulakidas with 17 points for Neuqua Valley. Junior guard Isaiah Stafford had 18 points, Kyonte Thomas 16, and Kai Evans 13 points. Neuqua Valley had 38-34 lead at halftime, and 57-50 at end of three quarters. Poulakidas had 26 points at halftime and 41 at the end of the third quarter. Neuqua Valley ups it's record to 11-4 while Bolingbrook drops to 11-4.
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