Even without Bostick, Warriors remain undefeated with easy win

Waubonsie Valley played short-handed Saturday, but you still had to hand it to the Warriors.

Even without 6-foot-1 junior center Rachel Bostick, they handled host Naperville Central 63-45 in a nonconference meeting between two members of the Daily Herald's girls basketball Top 20.

With Bostick playing in an out-of-state club soccer tournament, her teammates banded together to stay unbeaten with an impressive performance worthy of their No. 8 ranking.

Waubonsie Valley (7-0) came out aggressively on both ends of the floor to take an early lead and spent the rest of the game protecting and extending it.

Jessica Morice did her part for the Warriors by registering a double-double. The junior guard posted 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 steals, 3 assists and 1 block.

"We did know that we didn't have Rachel so we worked our hardest to work as a team," Morice said.

Kalivas called on Erin Decker to take Bostick's place in the starting lineup and the senior guard responded with 12 points.

Lauren Brownridge, a senior guard, contributed 10 points off the bench for the Warriors.

"It was a good win for us," Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said. "I was real happy with the intensity we came out with defensively. We kind of challenged our kids to pick up the defensive end compared to how we played on Thursday and I thought right from the tip-off they did that."

The Warriors jumped ahead 18-12 sparked by Morice's 10 first-quarter points.

"Morice driving to the basket really hurt us," said Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum, who's club is ranked No. 14 in the Top 20. "We knew she could shoot the ball, but she was driving around us."

When Morice sat out much of the second quarter after picking up her second foul, Brownridge scored 7 in the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the visitors into halftime with a 35-27 lead.

The Warriors scored the first 6 points of the second half to go up 41-27 and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Senior center Lisa Lawrence scored 15 and junior guard Kelley Hendrick totaled 14 for the Redhawks (5-2).

"They are very good," Nussbaum said of the Warriors. "They run well, they shoot well and they're deep. They're better than they were last year."