Neuqua Valley junior guard Nalia Clifford has always had the chops to be the lead.
Now she’s getting the chance to use them. In her third season as a starter, Clifford is no longer a supporting member of an ensemble cast.
“She has the ability to take over,” Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams said. “She was a role player the last couple of years, and I think it takes some time to adjust to being the big man or big woman on campus. … Sometimes you can try to do too much, and sometimes you can let the game come to you a little bit, so she’s starting to figure that out more and more as the season goes on. So that’s good.”
Indeed, Clifford is leading the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category. She averages 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals.
“She’s jumped into it right away,” Neuqua Valley junior center Michayla Stone said. “She has confidence.
“That’s the biggest thing with Nalia is she works extremely hard, and she’ll take on a challenge, and she’ll do it to perfection.”
In some games, Clifford has come close to perfection. She scored a career-high 36 points against St. Francis at the Montini Christmas Tournament, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime before the Wildcats prevailed.
In other games, Clifford’s shot has been off. That was the case against host Naperville North on Thursday, when she started 1 for 12, missing nine consecutive shots.
But Clifford didn’t give up, and neither did the Wildcats, who cut a 15-point third-quarter deficit to eight points before the Huskies pulled out a 62-51 DuPage Valley Conference win. Clifford scored 17 of her team-high 20 points in the second half, making five 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“I don’t want to say it’s nice,” Clifford said of being Neuqua Valley’s leading scorer. “I’ve had good scoring games, and I’ve had bad scoring games, so I try to just focus on the defense, especially now that I’m not getting wide-open shots in the corner like I have in the past.
“I’ve definitely had some rough games, so I’m just trying to keep getting better and also know how to draw some defenders and then kick the ball out. We were doing that a little bit today.”
The Wildcats (8-12, 2-3) are a young team, and their inconsistent play reflects that. After winning three consecutive games to capture the consolation title at Montini, they’ve lost four straight by an average of seven points.
Clifford, whose older brother Nolan was picked in the 17th round of the 2024 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies, is the only player on the team with starting experience at her current position. Sophomore guard Quinn Sigal started at center last season, while Stone was primarily a backup.
“(Clifford) has got to know everything,” Williams said. “She’s playing three different positions for us — point guard, 2 guard and 3 guard.
“She’s good at knowing where everybody is supposed to be. She’s a good leader on and off the court. All the things we do outside of basketball, she’s right in it.”
Clifford is philosophical about adjusting to her new responsibilities. She sometimes takes a lot of shots — she made 6 of 23 against North — but prefers not to focus on herself, even when opponents such as the Huskies (8-11, 2-3) do.
“It’s been an adjustment for everyone,” Clifford said. “Everyone is kind of new to it, so it just depends on the game, like what the game plan is and what kind of defense (the opponent) is playing.
“Like today, they were in a zone, so we had to switch it up throughout the game. At the end there, we just knew we had to get some threes because we were behind, so that’s when I kind of started chucking them up.”
Clifford’s leadership has been instrumental in the development of Sigal and Stone. Sigal had 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists against the Huskies, while Stone had one of her best games of the season with 10 points, six rebounds and a block.
“Nalia has been super vocal, and she’s helped me with my confidence because she’s getting me the ball, and we’re able to work well with one another,” Stone said. “She’s helping everybody out.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
