Warriors try to heal a little bit

The crowd at Waubonsie Valley Saturday was treated to what seemed to be three girls basketball games in one, and the host Warriors won two out of three.

The injury-riddled Warriors leapt to an 11-0 lead in the first five minutes or so, faltered a bit in the middle 16, then mounted an impressive 24-8 stretch run in the last 11 minutes to come away with a 50-27 win over Oswego.

"We were spectacular at the beginning of the game," said Warriors coach Kris Kalivas. "Then we relaxed a little bit and allowed them to build themselves back in the game possession by possession."

Waubonsie Valley (17-1) was trailing 29-26 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, when they outscored the Panthers 10-2 to take a 36-31 lead into the final period.

"We started to run a little bit," Kalivas said. "We pushed the ball up the court and got some easy baskets. That all comes from our defense. When we play sound defense, box out and rebound and then go the other way quickly for easy baskets, we're a good team."

In that third quarter when the contest seemed most in jeopardy, the Warriors defense stiffened and created 8 straight points on a pair of free throws by Lauren Brownridge, two putbacks by Danielle Brown and another bucket by Erin Decker.

Waubonsie Valley dominated the fourth quarter to put the game away

Brittany Upshaw led the balanced Waubonsie scoring with 13 points.

"Brittany stepped up and did some of the offensive things she did for us last year," Kalivas said.

Brown tallied 11 and the Warriors got a game-high 12 rebounds and 9 points from 6-foot-1 center Rachel Bostick, who was back for her second game after missing six with a shoulder injury.

"We knew we had to win this game for sectional purposes," Bostick said. "Oswego is in our sectional. We've had bad luck with injuries, but a lot of the other girls are stepping up into important roles."

December was a cruel month for the Warriors, who lost Bostick for those six games and forward Emily Collins for the year. During the Christmas tournament Jessica Morice was injured and is expected to miss at least the next 10 days.

"When we're close to full strength, we'll be that much better," Kalivas said. "Luckily, we have a deep enough bench that we're able to cover those holes."

Brittany Collier led the Panthers (10-7) with a game-high 20 points and Katie Ziemnik added 13.

"The way we put ourselves back in the game after that slow start showed that our girls have a lot of character," said Oswego coach Chad Pohlmann. "Brittany is the glue of our team. She plays as hard as anyone I've ever coached. We're a young team, but we came back with a lot of energy and competed for most of the game against a really good, well-coached Waubonsie team."

-- Neil Shalin

Fenton 58, Streamwood 42:ŒFenton wasted little time in taking command of Saturday's nonconference game against Streamwood. Fueled by their pressure defense, the Bison surged to a quick early lead in the first quarter and never looked back in Bensenville.

"We wanted to take them out of anything that they wanted to do offensively," said Fenton coach Tim Anderson. "We put a lot of pressure on their guards."

Did they ever. The Bison forced 9 Streamwood turnovers in the first quarter and turned a number of those steals into points. Fenton led 11-0 four minutes into the game and ended the first eight minutes of play leading 19-7.

The play of guards Stephanie Pingel, Samantha Rubright and Tricia Chiamas led the way for the Bison (10-8). Pingel poured in a game-high 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Rubright scored 7 of her 14 points in the opening quarter. She was particularly active on the boards too, especially on the offensive glass and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Chiamas also chipped in 10 points for the game. This trio along with other Fenton defenders did a good job of getting into the passing lanes and hassling the Sabres ballhandlers.

"Defense was huge," Pingel said. "We got a lot of steals and that set the tone for us."

"First-quarter shooting and pressure," said Streamwood coach George Rosner when asked what the keys were for the Bison. "We came out cold and kind of flat. We missed a lot of easy shots."

Fenton extended its lead to 30-13 at halftime and moved ahead by 22 points late in the third quarter. The Sabres (2-15) did rally a bit in the fourth quarter to cut into the Bison lead. Players such as center Melissa Oehlerking and center Emma Schmidt crashed the boards hard. All of Oehlerking's 8 points game in the final quarter. Schmidt had a pair of offensive board putbacks in the final eight minutes and finished with a team-high 10 points.

-- Brian Pitts

Lake Park 43, Palatine 37:ŒSamantha Arnold rang up 29 points in leading the Lancers (12-4) to a nonconference triumph.

Glenbard West 42, Bartlett 33:ŒKathryn Lux made three 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 19 points and Abbey White scored 10 for the Hilltoppers (9-10), who earned a nonconference victory.

Benet 40, Neuqua Valley 34:ŒThe Redwings (8-12) won the nonconference game behind Nikki Bell's game-high 13 points.