The IHSA Boys’ basketball playoffs are on! 8-seed Plainfield North and 9-seed Metea Valley basketball travel to Bolingbrook for a Regional Semifinal. The Tigers enter after a win at home against Yorkville while the Mustangs return after a road win against Prospect. The winner will move on to the regional finals against one-seeded Bolingbrook on Friday. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Metea Valley leads Plainfield North by two in the second quarter
Early on, Metea’s up 5-4. Lukas Alvarez gets the board and Like a QB downfield, he fires to Pierre Pointer for the score.
Now with the ball in Metea territory, Darin Ashiru finds Pointer who gets fouled as he puts it up. The and-one gives the Tigers a 9-5 lead in the first.
However, after some back and forth, Metea regains the lead and looks to add to it. Tre Watkins finds Jake Nosek over the middle and he floats in the three-pointer to give the Mustangs a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Now with the game tied at 16, Watkins gets in on the scoring as he takes it himself up the right side, and puts it over the Tigers heads for the score to give the Mustangs the edge.
Mustangs close out the first half with a nine-point advantage
Metea gets in on defense as North’s pass is taken away by Dominic Smith and he puts in another layup to extend the Mustangs advantage up 22-16.
The second quarter frenzy for Metea continues as Watkins takes it himself. This time he hits from deep to give the Mustangs nine unanswered points! They’re leading 25-16.
A few possessions later, Anthony Hildreth goes for another three but it bounces off the rim and off the hands of the rebounders. Khalil Jones eventually secures possession and he scores to put the Mustangs up by 12.
Watkins’s strong second quarter continues as he takes it up the middle again and gets fouled as he floats it in for the and-one bucket! Metea leads 39-28 at halftime.
The Mustangs pick up where they left off in the third, as the quick passing game results in Tyler Miller sinking the long three. Mustangs up by 14 to open the second half.
Plainfield North gets right back into it before the Mustangs go on a big run to wrap up the IHSA Regional Semifinal
Plainfield North tries to rally with Samuel Finn taking the rock up the middle. He pushes through and sends it home to get the Tigers on the board.
A couple of possessions later, now 44-36, Finn gets the ball again with some quick passing and buries home the three to close the gap down to five midway through the third.
However, that is as close as the Tigers would get. Metea pushes down again as Watkins goes for another three but it bounces off the rim, however, the ball finds its way to Nosek who from the other side, sends home another three to make it 51-39 Mustangs.
A couple of possessions later, Hildreth pushes up under the hoop and finds Nosek left alone again on the opposite side who sends home another long three to make it a 13-point advantage for the Mustangs.
Watkins would put on an exclamation point, stealing the ball and dunking it down in style!
Then to ice it off, Watkins takes it to the rack and gets fouled for another AND-ONE. Metea Valley basketball shines as they take down Plainfield North with a 74-56 regional win. They’ll play top-seeded Bolingbrook on Friday for the Regional Championship.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!