Neuqua Valley star Cole Kelly took the court on Tuesday night the same way he always does — with smile and an air of confidence.
This is a freshman who isn’t fazed by a little frustration.
“That’s who he is,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “I’m not surprised at his greatness.”
Three days after enduring the worst performance of his short high school career, Kelly lit up Joliet Central for 22 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block. The 6-foot-6 swingman made his first six shots and finished 8 for 10, including four 3-pointers, as the Wildcats rolled to a 61-29 nonconference victory at Joliet Junior College.
Kelly did all that in three quarters of action. Sutton cleared his bench after Kelly, who is averaging 19.0 points and already has offers from DePaul and Illinois, made two free throws for a 49-19 lead with 53.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
The performance was a return to normal for Kelly, who was held to a career-low two points in Neuqua Valley’s 53-37 loss to DuPage Valley Conference leader Waubonsie Valley on Feb. 7.
The host Warriors guarded Kelly like a blanket on the perimeter, forcing him to shoot from 25 feet out. He went 0 for 9 from the floor and 2 for 6 from the line.
Yet Kelly quickly shrugged off any disappointment, and his teammates followed suit.
“You learn more from a game like that than a game where you drop 30 and win,” Kelly said. “Those are the ones where you look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Next time, what can I do better? How do I bounce back from that?’ And that’s what we did.”
The Wildcats (17-11) made quick work of Joliet Central, scoring the first 24 points of the game. The Steelmen (2-23) did not score until the 3:23 mark of the second quarter.
Kelly already had 12 points by then, starting with a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession. None of the Wildcats were surprised.
“Oh, no, Cole is a great player,” Neuqua Valley senior guard Danny Podpora said. “We’ve known that all year. He’s been balling and keeping up the great work.
“Obviously, some days people have their off days. But we have a team right here, and we’re all behind his back, helping him to keep going.”
Indeed, junior forward Andrew Hoffmann and senior guard David Taiwo assisted on the first two 3-pointers by Kelly, who in turn fed Podpora for a layup. Taiwo, who scored a career-high 30 points in the Wildcats’ 94-64 win against Yorkville Christian on Feb. 4, finished with eight points, and Podpora had five points and three assists.
Sophomore guards Mason Martin and Carter Coviello each had six points, and senior guard Kyle Lomuntad banked in a 30-footer at the halftime buzzer for the Wildcats, who shot 23 of 44.
“Nothing is better than everyone playing,” Sutton said. “When everyone is playing, you see how many good teammates we have.
“We’re rooting for each other, and it makes for a good team camaraderie. That’s what makes a good team.”
The Wildcats have won nine of their past 11 games with a consistent mindset.
“It was just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Kelly said. “Our turnovers were low against Waubonsie. We outrebounded them. The ball just didn’t go in the hoop, so we know that we can play, and that’s just what we did tonight.”
Neuqua Valley is clearly best when Kelly is on target. It’s why Podpora will continue to feed him the ball with the postseason right around the corner.
“Oh, yeah, 100%,” Podpora said. “He’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever played with.”
Every opponent knows this, so Kelly is facing ever-tighter defenses farther and farther from the basket. He said that actually could work in the Wildcats’ favor.
“You tell yourself you’re doing something right when you get face-guarded like that,” he said. “When you play teams like that, you look for guys like Danny and Mason to get the shots because it spreads the court for them when they face-guard me.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
