Warriors find right stuff to beat Panthers

Waubonsie Valley showed its potential Monday against Glenbard North.

Limiting the long-range shots rampant at the start, the Warriors went to playmaking with much better results.

That teamwork produced a 22-5 second-quarter run which, in turn, led to Waubonsie Valley's 71-59 win at its own 25th annual Christmas Classic in Aurora.

"We started moving the ball around a lot more and getting a lot of open looks, and running the floor a lot better than we usually do," said Waubonsie Valley's 6-foot-7 Roy McElroy, who scored 20 points with 12 rebounds.

Forward Jelani Johnson and guard Jonny Strauss joined McElroy in double figures with 20 and 10 points, respectively. Strauss added 4 assists while Tyler Castro and Jakobi Johnson, Jelani's sophomore brother, contributed 3 assists apiece.

"I thought we did a nice job of being unselfish tonight," said Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer. "I thought we made that extra pass, and we had guys that could penetrate and kick. We haven't done that a lot this year, and I was proud of those guys."

His first-quarter decibel level indicated otherwise as Waubonsie went 5-of-16 from the floor. Glenbard North (3-6) matched the Warriors on the backboard and scoreboard, tied 12-12 after the first quarter.

After Reginald Davis' drive put the Panthers up 14-12, Waubonsie Valley (5-4) went to work.

Six different players scored during a 15-0 run. Strauss assisted on two baskets, including a McElroy three-point play, and also canned a 3 after he blocked a shot on defense.

Glenbard North chipped away but Waubonsie rolled. Mark Szott scored inside from a Steve Strickland feed, then he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored again to push the Warriors' lead to 34-17 at 1:03 of the second quarter.

After halftime Johnson starting marching to the foul line. His 2 free throws bumped the lead to 46-26 at 5:05 of the third quarter.

Glenbard North wizard James Fleming sat most of the third quarter with foul trouble, returning to score 12 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Scoring 13 points, Marko Govedarica tried to keep the Panthers in it during Fleming's absence, but the closest they got was 64-52 with 2:17 left to play.

"We played some better defense in the second half," said Glenbard North coach Joe Larson, "but in a varsity game you've got to play two halves."