Waubonsie Valley 71, East Aurora 34
Within three minutes of the start of Friday's senior night game, every Waubonsie Valley starter had already scored.
That balance and unselfishness has been the hallmark of this season's Warriors, who won the Upstate Eight Conference championship with a 71-34 victory over visiting East Aurora.
The Warriors, who went 10-0 in conference, go into next week's playoffs with a 24-2 record and with their team healthy and at full strength for the first time since Emily Collins was injured in mid-December.
"Winning conference is great," said senior guard Lauren Brownridge. "It was our goal at the beginning of the season to go undefeated and win the Upstate Eight Conference. And with all the emotion before the game, it made this a very special win."
Collins, who was expected to miss the entire season, made her return Friday and scored a basket late in the game.
Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said Collins will be able to play limited minutes in the playoffs.
"She's a huge leader for us," Kalivas said. "Once she gets the feel of what she can do it will be a key to have her in the postseason. Her rebounding, her size and how physical she can be."
Center Rachel Bostick and forward Jessica Morice also missed significant time earlier this season because of injuries.
"The whole team is back," Brownridge said. "And we can all play. We wanted Emily to score all night and she did. It was great."
"Tonight was amazing," said Waubonsie Valley guard Anna Gault. "We tied for the championship last year. Now we're the only ones up there. This was a team effort. We're like a family. We want everyone on the team to do well."
Every one of the Warriors' 12 players scored at least 2 points in the win. The typically balanced attack was led by Danielle Brown and Erin Decker, who scored 10 apiece.
"On the court we all know each other's strengths and weaknesses," Brownridge said. "We want to go further in the playoffs this year."
Last year the Warriors advanced to the sectional semi-finals before losing.
"I couldn't be prouder of the kids," Kalivas said. "We battled injuries all year long and we were able to fill those holes and show how strong our bench was. Some of the kids who had to fill in gained confidence. That was a positive. Sometimes you learn from adversity."
The Warriors jumped out to 10-0 lead Friday and never let the less-experienced Tomcats (5-22, 1-9) back in the game as they increased the lead in every period.
-- Neil Shalin
Willowbrook 54, Addison Trail 43:ŒThe District 88 schools gave a sneak preview of Monday's Class 4A Willowbrook regional quarterfinal.
If that playoff game turns out to be anything like Friday night's West Suburban Gold meeting, expect it to be a battle.
The conference finale was tight for three quarters as Addison Trail put up a fight before host Willowbrook found its shooting touch and pulled away for a 54-43 triumph in Villa Park.
The teams will meet at the same time and same place in two days to see who'll play Gold champ Proviso East in Tuesday's semifinal.
"I expect about the same thing -- a dogfight," Willowbrook coach Troy Nelson said. "Whoever makes the break in the second half is going to probably win the game. This game went down exactly how the last one went down."
"It should be another battle," said Addison Trail coach Rob Schader, whose club led 11-7 after one quarter and 19-18 at the half.
Willowbrook (12-17, 6-6) held a 32-30 edge late in the third quarter, then used a 16-2 burst to move ahead 48-32 with 4:49 left in the contest.
Coach's daughter Taylor Nelson accounted for half of the Warriors' points in their big run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers and a hop into the lane.
Nelson finished with 16 points and four 3-pointers. The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard scored 11 points and made three 3-pointers in the second half to spark Willowbrook's surge.
"I had a little talk with myself at halftime," she said. "I haven't been shooting very well lately, and I knew I needed to. I think it was mostly just a focus thing."
Addison Trail junior guard Mercedes Rallings came off the bench and provided the Blazers (6-22, 3-9) with energy. She led them in scoring with 16.
"If I can get her to play like that for us next year I'd be really happy," Schader said. "She did a nice job tonight."
The Warriors shot 54 percent from the field in the second half to halt their losing streak at five.
Even though Willowbrook also won the first game between the clubs 54-46 on Dec. 18 in Addison, Nelson knows Monday's third game with the Blazers isn't going to be easy.
"They play hard and they've got some kids that can make plays this year," he said. "Whoever makes the break in the second half is going to probably win the game."
-- Dave Miller
Montini 85, Marian Central 31:ŒThe Broncos (22-5, 14-0) completed an undefeated run through the Suburban Catholic Conference behind Michala Johnson's 18 points, 12 rebounds and 8 blocks.
Alison Seberger and Cootie Leeberg each added 12 points and Chrissy Fletcher chipped in 11 for the winners.
Glenbard South 35, DeKalb 20:ŒMaja Despot posted 10 points and 9 rebounds to lead Glenbard South (18-8, 8-5) to victory in the Western Sun Conference.
The Raiders outscored DeKalb 13-0 in the second half to build a 23-3 cushion.
Glenbard West 44, Lyons 39:ŒKathryn Lux drained two 3-pointers en route to 17 points, lifting Glenbard West (14-14, 8-4) to a win in West Suburban Silver action.
Abby Hastings helped the Hilltoppers with 10 points.