Waubonsie Valley 67, Oswego East 38
Maybe it was the PB&J sandwich she ate before the game.
Brittany Upshaw, of the host Waubonsie Valley girls basketball team, was searching for answers for her 21-point first-half output in Tuesday's regional semifinals game against Oswego East, and, in jest, she came up with the peanut butter and jelly theory.
Upshaw, who scored all of her game-high and career-high 21 points before the intermission, led the Warriors (26-2) to a 36-13 halftime lead and a relatively easy 67-38 win over the visiting Wolves (15-13).
The Warriors, who are seeded No. 3 in the Neuqua Valley sectional, move on to play West Aurora at Waubonsie Valley on Thursday.
"I had some good passes from my teammates who kept finding me on the back side of Oswego's zone," Upshaw said.
Upshaw started the game because forward Danielle Brown wasn't at full strength and played only limited minutes.
Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said Upshaw has been strong in practice the past few days.
"She was taking the all to the basket well in practice and it was good to see her transfer that to the game," Kalivas said of Upshaw, who has been a frequent starter because of the Warriors' run of injuries all season. "She had some great moves underneath and made some good decisions on the break and finished well."
The Warriors started the evening with an 11-0 run with guards Anna Gault and Lauren Brownridge finding the forwards with pinpoint passes inside.
And then Gault stepped outside and sank a 3-pointer to help the Warriors to a 17-6 lead at the end of the first period.
"Waubonsie does a good job putting on defensive pressure," said Oswego East coach Jason Senffner. "And we were tentative on offense the whole first quarter."
The Wolves came out more aggressively and started bombing from the outside in the second half, matching the Warriors' point total of 20 thanks to Katie Donaghey, who hit 12 of her team-high 15 points, including two 3-pointers in the third period.
A 9-point run on 3-pointers, 1 by Donaghey and 2 by Latajma Campbell, cut the Waubonsie margin to 39-22 and turned out to be the Wolves' biggest scoring spree of the game.
"Our defense stepped up and we did very well at pushing the ball, and that helps, too," Upshaw said. "We like to pass the ball. We're unselfish."
Kalivas believes that unselfishness is the key to the team.
"Our main focus is to contain the other team and its main players," Kalivas sid. "On offense the key for us is giving up the basketball, and the great thing about this team is we can have a different leading scorer in every game we play."
Upshaw and Rachel Bostick shared the rebounding honors for the Warriors with 6 each, while Bostick, Gault and Brownridge accounted for 8 points apiece.
Tina Ayodele added 12 points for the Wolves.
"Kris does such a great job with those kids," Senffner said. "They're so well-coached they look like they can go out there themselves."