Waubonsie survives to play another day
Battered, bruised and yet defiant, Waubonsie Valley moves on to fight another day.
The Warriors discovered an entirely different West Aurora team than they saw at Thanksgiving, but the results were the same in the long run. Waubonsie Valley overcame a sluggish start to turn back a valiant West Aurora effort in semifinal action of the Class 4A girls basketball regional at Oswego East on Tuesday night.
With its 59-53 victory Waubonsie Valley (18-8), the third seed at its sectional complex, advances to meet either Oswego East (21-6) or Downers Grove North (7-20) Friday night in the championship game.
West Aurora, the No. 14 seed, bowed out at 8-20 after falling to the Warriors for the second consecutive year in postseason play. Waubonsie Valley dominated West Aurora by 27 points at the teams' joint Thanksgiving tournament, but the Blackhawks were a different group this time. In fact West Aurora left wondering what might have been.
The Blackhawks forced 14 first-half turnovers and had several Waubonsie players in foul trouble, including senior post Rachel Bostick. But West Aurora missed 19 of its 27 shot attempts and 7 of 9 free throws in taking a 20-19 lead at the break.
"We were very fortunate to be down only 1 at halftime with Rachel on the bench," Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said.
"(Free-throw shooting) killed us," said West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl.
Waubonsie Valley would not be so charitable in the second half. The Warriors had a mere pair of third-quarter turnovers, and the increased number of scoring chances resulted in the squad more than doubling its first-half output.
With Bostick scoring 14 of her team-high 16 points after the break and Tami Morice spearheading the Warriors at both ends with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, Waubonsie Valley closed out the third quarter with the Morice and her older sister Jessica collaborating on a buzzer-beater.
"I didn't want this to be my last game," said Jessica Morice, who scored 9 points as the Warriors' sixth man in her second game back. "Everyone did their part."
"We want to go as far as we can," said Bostick, who had three critical fourth-quarter scores to keep West Aurora at bay. "I just want to win."
Bri Tye concluded her West Aurora career with a team-high 16 points on four 3-pointers. Devin Vaughn and Jasmine Johnson had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Blackhawks.
"We were exhausted," Siljendahl said. "It's hard to keep the key players off the court. They have more depth."