Waubonsie Valley takes a step forward
The signs were present for growth in the Waubonsie Valley girls basketball program late last year, even if there weren't a lot of wins to show for the progress.
The Warriors are confident that will change this season, and Saturday's 35-27 defeat of West Chicago should be a step in the right direction. Strong defense from start to finish and just enough offense allowed Waubonsie Valley to claim the first-round contest of the Warhawk Thanksgiving Tournament in Aurora.
The Warriors (1-1) led most of the way and took a 26-15 lead into the fourth quarter before the Wildcats closed to within 26-24 following a 3-pointer by West Chicago guard Samantha Wiegele. But Brooklyn Wilson answered by hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 and Jabria Dampier scored on a fastbreak layup as the hosts regrouped after the Wildcats' run to claim the Saturday morning victory.
"It feels good getting back into the swing of things. We started to build and grow as a team at the end of last season, and we're just hoping to continue to build as this season goes on," said Wilson, who recorded game-highs of 9 points and 14 rebounds.
The rebounding of Wilson and teammate Abbey Glavin were huge, and so was a Warriors defense that held West Chicago (1-2) to just 15 points through three quarters.
"That first half I thought it was fantastic," Warriors coach Dave Owles said. "I told the girls after the game, I said, 'The way we played man-to-man defense you looked like five girls playing together as one unit even though you were each guarding your individual girl.' So that was great. That was the difference. Our defense I thought was outstanding."
The strong defense and rebounding helped offset a rough night at the free-throw line as the Warriors made just 8 of 30 foul shots. But looking for a bright spot, Owles noted that the misses, which allowed West Chicago to get close in the fourth quarter, also enabled his players to get pushed and then to push back.
"We didn't panic," he said. "Maybe the silver lining of missing those free throws is it made us deal with the adversity. OK, you've got a lead and you almost let it totally evaporate. But then we learned to bounce back. We'll take that positive out if it. All those little things happened but we got a 'W.'"
Glavin scored all 5 of her points in the second half and also had 9 rebounds for the Warriors, while Iwiyisi Osaghae hit her team's only 3-pointer - a big shot in the third quarter - and finished with 7 points and 4 steals.
For West Chicago, Sierra Koenig and Sofia Radice each scored 7 points and center Delaney Doell grabbed 6 rebounds.
"We did make a little run, but then it was short-lived," Wildcats coach Kim Wallner said. "To me the game was won on the inside. It was about positioning. You know defense and rebounding is about positioning. We allowed them to take whatever position they wanted and then we tried to respond."