Passing interest as Waubonsie Valley beats Larkin

You pass it to me and I'll pass it to you.

That seemed to be the game plan for the Waubonsie Valley girls basketball team Thursday night against Larkin. Even though coach Kris Kalivas reminded some of her players to not be too unselfish, the Warriors piled up assist after assist in knocking off the visiting Royals 76-37.

Senior guard Jessica Morice led all scorers with 17 points in the game, but she spent more time dishing off in the second half after tallying 14 of her points in the first two quarters. Morice was one of four Warriors to score in double figures, and she was also one of eight players to record at least 1 assist, totaling 3 herself.

"I try to get as many assists as I can," said Morice, who knows it's often good ball movement from her teammates that gets her open 3-pointers and easy layups. "I know they'll give it back to me. We'll go up strong with the ball, but we also look for the pass and the easy basket."

On Thursday a short-handed Larkin squad (1-10, 1-2) could not contain unbeaten Waubonsie Valley (12-0, 4-0) on either end of the floor in this Upstate Eight Conference contest in Aurora. The Warriors forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter, but Larkin managed to hang around down 22-16 thanks to 8 points from Alyssa Burns, who dropped in a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter.

But 10 more giveaways in the second quarter coupled with a 15-of-33 shooting effort by Waubonsie in the half left the Royals trailing 41-23 at the break. Matters got worse for the visitors after the Warriors blitzed them with a 25-8 surge in the third quarter. Guard Lauren Brownridge tallied 9 of her 15 points in the third quarter.

"We had a couple players out tonight, and I thought that made a little difference, but Waubonsie is a great team," Royals coach Amy Silverman said. "They're strong at every position. And we're a young team, but the kids played hard."

Kalivas couldn't argue at all with the effort of her team, which stayed perfect on the year even with key contributors Emily Collins and Rachel Bostick out with injuries.

"We're actually an unselfish group of kids," she said. "Sometimes I have to talk to them about taking shots when they have them. Tonight they did a nice job of running our break and hitting the open player."

Forward Danielle Brown hit plenty of open teammates while finishing with 6 assists, but she also came away with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Brittany Upshaw added 14 points for Waubonsie.

For Larkin, Burns led the way with 11 points and 3 assists, while 6-foot sophomore center Stacie Beaver came off the bench to contribute 8 points and 5 rebounds.