Waubonsie Valley races past West Chicago
It might not happen every game, but sometimes a basketball team can do its sport's equivalent of putting "the pedal to the metal," a term used when racing a car.
The Waubonsie Valley girls did that Saturday against West Chicago during the first day of the Warhawk Thanksgiving Tournament. A huge second quarter propelled the Warriors to a 61-35 victory.
"We got in a groove and started hitting shots," said Waubonsie first-year coach Brett Love. "The key for us was to come out and be aggressive. In the second half we figured what we needed to fix, players helping teammates and staying with their opponents on defense."
Waubonsie (1-1) led 11-2 at one point in the opening quarter with West Chicago (0-3) battling its way back with a 10-4 run to close the first eight minutes.
Early in the second quarter the Wildcats' Sierra Koenig hit her third field goal of the game to give West Chicago its only advantage of the contest, a 16-15 lead. Love called a timeout, and after that Waubonsie made its move. The Warriors went on a 17-0 run to put a super-glue grip on the contest, leading 35-19 at halftime and 56-27 after three quarters.
During that key run in the second, Iwiyisis Osaghae went 3 of 3 from beyond the 3-point arc, Gina Palasz had two putbacks, Grace Setter had one and Mykah Berkompas converted on a layup on a court-length fastbreak. Seconds after West Chicago coach Dan Vashinko called a timeout to try and stop the momentum.
"We knew to win the game that we had to show some pride," Osaghae said. "They started catching up and I knew I had to make some 3s."
Waubonsie outscored West Chicago 41-15 over the second and third quarters and was 18-of-33 shooting.
"In the first quarter we were running our offense and getting open looks a little more. And we had energy on defense," Vashinko said. "Tuesday, we had just 5 points in the first quarter. We had 12 today and that's a huge improvement."
Sofia Radice led the Wildcats with 13 points. West Chicago returns to Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday in the Warhawk Thanksgiving Tournament with a 5:30 p.m. contest against DeKalb.
"We have to run our offense better and have more movement on offense. And we need to knock down more shots," Vashinko said.
The Wildcats hit 9 of 30 from the field in the first three quarters.
Lauren McKnight also sank three 3-points for the Warriors, who return to action in their own tournament at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Marian Catholic. McKnight led Waubonsie with 13 points. Setter had 12 in addition to 12 rebounds.
"We accomplished some things today and there are things we need to pay attention to," Love said. "But we are young. We're a new team with new players and a new coach. It's early."