Waubonsie musters triumph vs. Lancers

It wasn't the easiest way to get a win, but the Waubonsie Valley boys basketball team still found a way to pull it out in the second half of its contest at Lake Park on Thursday night in Roselle.

The Warriors used a 12-2 run to end the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in their 50-45 win as they stayed unbeaten in the Upstate Eight Conference at 6-0.

"We were lethargic in the first half and you know what? They wanted it more than we did," Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer said. "They had more energy and they played harder than we did. But luckily in the second half we made some plays and got things going."

Neither team could gain much momentum in the first half. Waubonsie Valley did take a 13-9 lead after a short jumper from Kevin VandenBerg and 1 of 2 free throws from Josh Daniels at the end of the first quarter, but both teams exchanged the lead three times in the second quarter until the Warriors grabbed a slim 22-21 advantage on a pair of free throws from Justin Peaster at the break.

"We're battling every game and we've got some young kids that are trying to learn to keep that energy for the full 32 minutes," Lake Park coach Cray Allen said. "We had that in the first half, but sometimes when you go into the half you lose that energy a little bit and I think that's what happened."

After trading baskets to start the second half, Lake Park put together a 7-0 run on baskets from Michael Pavone, Trent Patterson and George Manos to pull ahead 30-24 with 3:56 left, but Waubonsie Valley stifled the rally by responding with its own.

"To our guys' credit, they mustered out a win," Weemer said. "Sometimes you've got to win ugly on the road, and we did that. I give our guys credit for that."

Lake Park did close within 48-45 on a pair of free throws from Pavone and had a chance twice to tie the game on a 3-pointer, but its opportunities came up short.

Peaster finished with 12 points for Waubonsie Valley (16-3) while both VandenBerg and Daniels added 11 points each. Danny Baylis and senior George Manos both finished with 12 points each for Lake Park (6-12, 1-4).

"Waubonsie Valley is a pretty doggone good team," Allen said. "They made the necessary adjustments at the half, but our kids battled back and had a chance to tie so I'm pretty happy with the kids' performance."