Waubonsie Valley 48, Dundee-Crown 38
Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber knew his boys basketball team would have a tough time winning Friday night at Waubonsie Valley, but he devised a scheme to make sure things wouldn't come too easily for the Warriors.
Huber's Chargers managed to slow down the fast-paced Warriors attack in the second and third quarters to keep the game close, but it was Waubonsie's defense that ended up doing in Dundee-Crown as the hosts prevailed 48-38 in the low-scoring affair.
"Our game plan was to try and win 38-37, but they scored 11 more points (than that)," Huber said. "They're pretty good, though. You have to guard all of their guys."
Waubonsie (17-3) jumped ahead 16-9 in the first quarter as Justin Peaster, Jelani Johnson and Josh Daniels each put down 3-pointers. But the Chargers (7-7) slowed things down a little after the first quarter and limited the Warriors to a combined 20 points over the second and third quarters and, after trailing 36-25 after three quarters, clipped the margin to 41-36 with 2:45 left to play. It was a pair of 3-pointers by Rob Stupar and a three-point play by Jeff Beck that brought Dundee-Crown within 5.
"They were passing 10, 11 times a possession. It was crazy," said Daniels, who scored 10 points for the Warriors. "They had a lot of triple screens and double screens. We just had to stick with it."
Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer, whose team has won six straight, credited his team's defense for helping hold the Chargers to a 15 of 44 shooting night and for carrying the team on a night when its offense was not at its best.
"They're a team that likes to play a half-court game, and they cut real hard," he said. "They keep working and they almost lull you to sleep and then they get great opportunities.
"Our defense carried us. It was one of our best on-ball defensive efforts. That was the key."
Another key was a balanced attack that saw Johnson lead three scorers in double figures with 15 points, as well as Kyle Obendorf's 8 rebounds.
"We missed a lot of shots and they had a couple runs," Johnson said. "We knew we just had to keep playing defense."
After the Chargers closed to within 41-36, Waubonsie guard Kevin VandenBerg split Dundee-Crown's defense with a driving layup through the lane, then added a free throw to increase the lead to 44-36 with 2:05 left to play. All the visitors could muster from there was a fastbreak basket by Kyle Vickstrom.
"They're better than their record indicates," Weemer said of the Chargers. "They're a dangerous team, and this is a good win for us."
Freddie Parson scored 8 points off the bench to lead the Chargers, while Justin Strzelczyk had a pair of 3s and David Bernard added 8 rebounds.