Waubonsie Valley puts it all together
This is the type of weekend Waubonsie Valley's been looking for.
Off Friday's defensive shutdown of a No. 1 playoff seed in Dundee-Crown, on Saturday the Warriors took East Aurora's vaunted gym, embraced the fast pace, handled the pressure and landed three double-figure scorers in a 72-65 Upstate Eight Conference victory.
Down 5 early in the fourth quarter, guard Jonny Strauss led a 17-0 run that gave the Warriors a 62-50 lead with 3:38 left in the game.
Waubonsie Valley (12-11, 4-3), shooting 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter and 9 of 9 from the line, weathered East Aurora's inevitable charge.
"We've had it in us all year and we just did stuff that we knew we could do, and what's expected of us," said Strauss, whose 21 points tied East Aurora's Jamar Shepard for game honors.
"That's why this year's been so frustrating, because we know we've had it in us," Strauss said.
"Basically," teammate Jelani Johnson said, "we had to play better team defense and then execute on offense."
East Aurora (16-7, 5-2), falling into third place in the UEC after weekend losses to Bartlett and Waubonsie Valley, forces an up-tempo game by pressing nonstop with top athletes like Ryan Boatright, who scored 17 points with 4 steals.
Waubonsie enjoyed the tempo. East Aurora forced 23 turnovers, but the Warriors' 35-23 rebounding advantage - led by Roy McElroy with 11 plus 15 points, Jelani Johnson with 9 rebounds and 18 points and Tyler Castro with 9 rebounds and 6 points - limited the Tomcats' run-outs. Guards Alex Stokowski and Tyler Perkins came off the bench to help combat the press.
"I think probably the difference in the game would be Roy McElroy did a nice job on the boards, and Jelani. Those guys stepped up inside," said coach Steve Weemer.
Two Strauss 3s helped the Warriors take a 19-15 lead after a quarter, and despite Shepard's three 3s in the second Waubonsie led 34-33 at halftime.
Boatright dunked off his own steal for a 50-45 Tomcats lead at 7:16 of the fourth quarter when Waubonsie, heeding Weemer's strategy to keep attacking, rallied with 17 straight points.
Strauss had 9 of them, with a flying flip-in off his own steal and a three-point play that drew a Tomcats technical foul for a hard foul. Strauss missed the free shot, but McElroy's putback upped the lead to 62-50.
"We created turnovers, but in key moments - especially at the end of the game - they did a good job of handling our press," said East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries, whose team is a No. 4 playoff seed to Waubonsie's No. 12.
Now, to handle prosperity.
"We need to get a run on before regionals so we can win a regional. That's really our goal right now," McElroy said.
Waubonsie Valley 72, East Aurora 65
Waubonsie Valley - Strauss 7 5-5 21, Ja. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Castro 2 2-2 6, Je. Johnson 5 7-10 18, McElroy 7 1-3 15, Stokowski 1 2-2 4, Strickland 0 0-0 0, T. Perkins 4 0-0 8, Szott 0 0-0 0, Crayton 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 17-22 72.
East Aurora - Lash 3 0-0 9, Taylor 1 3-4 5, Boatright 5 4-7 17, Weathersby 4 0-0 8, Shepard 8 2-4 21, Turner 1 0-0 2, McGhee 0 0-0 0, Zackery 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 9-15 65.
Waubonsie Valley 19 15 11 27 -72
East Aurora 15 18 12 19 -65
3-point baskets: WV: Strauss 2, Je. Johnson. EA: Lash 3, Boatright 3, Shepard 3, Zackery.
Fouled out: None.