Waubonsie Valley breaks past Aurora Central Catholic
Two different basketball teams, two different coaches. Each called their teams' mentality "fragile."
Which one would crack?
Waubonsie Valley beat Aurora Central Catholic 60-42 on Wednesday in the third and final round of divisional play in the 26th annual Warrior Christmas Classic in Aurora.
The host Warriors, down 15-6 after the first quarter, used a 1-3-1 zone trap to catch fire and break the game open. Waubonsie (3-9) outscored the Chargers 40-16 over the second and third quarters.
"We felt that this is our home court and we had a couple close games in the beginning (of the Classic)," said Waubonsie senior guard Tyler Perkins, with a game-high 16 points. "So we thought today we weren't going to give it up and just go out here and give our all. And we got it done."
In the first quarter Aurora Central (6-5) got it done the way it must given its typically good shooting eye and lack of height. Joey Guth, Joey McEachern and Ryan Harreld each hit 3-pointers to pace a 15-6 lead. ACC didn't can another 3 until McEachern's with 3:43 left in the game.
"We're not a big team, we're not overly athletic, so if we don't have the 3-ball it's going to be tough to win," said Chargers senior point guard Steve Hollon, whose 6 points followed McEachern and Guth, who scored 14 and 11, respectively.
Waubonsie, which plays Al Raby for fifth place at 4 p.m. Saturday, began the second quarter with steals by Perkins and Nick Lisauskas out of the trap. Turning defense to offense, Waubonsie enjoyed a 16-4 run with Perkins scoring 10 of those points and 11-point scorer Mark Szott mixing it up inside. Jakobi Johnson's coast-to-coast dribble and pull-up jumper at the halftime buzzer gave the Warriors a 26-23 lead.
"We hit a rough patch there," ACC coach Nathan Drye said, "and we had one turnover turn into seven, and we went from up 8 to down 3 at halftime just because we let it all steamroll instead of fighting through it. We've got to be tougher mentally."
Waubonsie's good fortunes continued in the third quarter, sophomore guard Tyler Yanisch capping a quick 6-0 run with a court-length drive. The Warriors then fed 6-foot-7 junior Tyler Edmondson for 10 of his 14 points. Waubonsie took a 46-31 lead into the fourth quarter and kept pace from there.
"For us to get a win like that," Warriors coach Steve Weemer said, "it's good for us to continue to build on and come back Saturday with some high confidence."