Waubonsie hits right number
Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer did not share the magic number with his team prior to Friday night's basketball game with Glenbard North.
Because of that, the Warriors knew they needed to win to finish 2-1 in pool play and then find out whether whatever tiebreakers were in effect that would allow them to play in tonight's Warrior Christmas Classic final against Hinsdale Central.
As it turns out, what the Waubonsie Valley needed to do was win and hold the Panthers under 58 points. Both missions were easily accomplished when the 12-3 Warriors knocked off Glenbard North 56-37 in as strong an effort as Weemer could hope for considering his team was without injured point guard Kevin VandenBerg.
"I didn't tell them," Weemer said about the 58-point bar. "But our team defense has been lacking, and I liked what I saw tonight."
What the Warriors delivered and what Weemer saw was a smart, patient offense on one end of the floor and the team's trademark tough defense on the other end. It was that tough defense that seemed to be missing at times in recent games, but six Warriors recorded steals and the Warriors limited the Panthers (1-10) to just 13-of-31 shooting for the night.
Jelani Johnson led the Warriors with 15 points, but it was his 6 rebounds combined with 7 from Kyle Obendorf that helped the hosts own the glass by a 33-14 margin.
"It was kind of difficult without Kevin (VandenBerg), but we all stepped up and everyone did it big," said Johnson, who scored 8 points while the Warriors took a 29-18 lead at the half. "We weren't aware of it (tiebreaker), but we knew we had to come together as a team."
Josh Daniels took over the point for VandenBerg, who suffered an injury to his right hand in the tourney opener Wednesday, and Daniels finished with 12 points and 2 assists. Justin Peaster and Alex Stokowski each added 4 assists, while Josh Smith and Zamarri Doby provided plenty of spark off the bench.
"I liked to see us come back with high energy, especially after a loss last night," Weemer said. "I told our guys that I don't care who we're playing, we have to come out and play as a team."
For Glenbard North, it's been a tough go of late. Coach Erin Dwyer felt his team had plenty of good looks at the basket but just couldn't put the ball in the hole. Making just 9 of 21 free throws didn't help matters either.
"We tried to stress to be patient on offense, but we've got to hit shots," Dwyer said. "When you miss open shots and you miss that many free throws as well, you're not going to win many games."
Reid Hulett did his best to keep the Panthers close by scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first half, while Kaaran Singh and Matt Ng each added 6 points for Glenbard North.