Warriors lose Bostick but defeat Bartlett

How do you react to a teammate going down midgame?

If you're Waubonsie Valley, you grind out a win.

The Warriors lost leading rebounder Rachel Bostick to a shoulder injury midway through the second quarter of Friday's Upstate Eight Conference opener against Bartlett but had enough to hold off the Hawks 50-45 in Aurora.

"We knew we had to pick up the tempo when Bostick went down," said Warriors senior Jessica Morice, who had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. "We had to fill her roles - rebounding, boxing out that much harder and going after balls that much quicker. In the back of our minds we finished the game out for her."

Waubonsie Valley (7-0, 1-0) led 23-16 two minutes into the second quarter when Bostick appeared to hurt the shoulder defending an entry pass to the post. After writhing in pain for several minutes, Bostick left the gym and didn't return. The injury is a dislocated right shoulder; Bostick, averaging 11 points per game coming into Friday, missed time around Christmas last year with an injured left shoulder.

"There's no doubt that she can't be replaced," Warriors coach Kris Kalivas said, "but I thought Tanysha (Walls) stepped in well in the second half today after getting her feet wet, and Keiera (Ray) does some nice things on the boards. Those kids are just going to have to grow pretty fast."

Bartlett (4-3, 0-1) pulled to within 28-26 at the half behind 14 first-half points from sophomore Jacki Gulczynski. The game remained nip-and-tuck in the second half, and Waubonsie Valley's lead was a tenuous 44-42 with 3:54 left after an Ashley Santos jumper for Bartlett. But the Warriors held the Hawks without another field goal until a Santos layup with 10 seconds left. Walls had a stickback to make it 46-42 and Morice made two free throws to pad Waubonsie Valley's lead while Bartlett missed five shots and turned the ball over twice.

"I think it's a game that we let slip away," Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said. "We had our chances. Waubonsie Valley did a good job of disrupting our offense. They're a physical team, even without Bostick."

Freshman Tami Morice had 10 points and 8 rebounds for Waubonsie Valley. Walls also scored 10 points, and was part of a group of Warriors posts that held Gulcynzki to just 5 points and one field goal in the second half.

"I was very happy with all of our defense in the second half," Kalivas said. "We kept her out of her element and kept her off the boards."

Santos added 15 points for Bartlett, which played without second-leading rebounder Haley Videckis (foot/ankle injury).