Waubonsie Valley coasts to triumph
Waubonsie Valley came to play for most of its semifinal round game in the Class 4A West Aurora regional on Tuesday.
The Warriors (24-2) used a pressing defense and a big advantage on the boards to break out to a 45-21 halftime lead, then coasted in the second half to defeat Lockport 52-36.
The win puts the Warriors into Thursday's regional final against West Aurora.
"Our first half and part of the second we were decent defensively," said Waubonsie coach Kim Connell. "From now on we just have to be more consistent and play well the entire game."
The Warriors jumped out to a 12-0 run and led 18-4 by the end of the first quarter.
In the first half Erica Jordan, who was the Warriors' leading rebounder with 9, did a good job of holding Lockport's big scorer Amber Surdokaite to 5 points.
The Warriors - scoring often in transition after forcing numerous Porters turnovers with an effective pressing defense - put the game pretty much out of reach by halftime.
"We tried to cut them off with the press," said Waubonsie Valley guard Becky Williford. "They kind of got scrambled and that got us a lot of steals and baskets in transition."
Tami Morice's trio of 3-pointers also sparked Waubonsie.
In the fourth quarter Surdokaite got loose and scored all 15 Porters points, including 10 in a row during an 11-point run.
She hit 3 of 4 from the foul line after a sequence of physical play by the Warriors that resulted in a flagrant foul and a technical against the Waubonsie Valley bench.
Connell was not pleased with the Warriors during this stretch.
"I'm not happy with the way we finished," Connell said. "The girls have to keep their composure. It's about maturity and leadership. We'll get through this and we'll be all right."
Connell praised the contributions made by Tia Brooks and Jordan Meyers off the bench.
"They both came in and gave us very good minutes," Connell said.
The Warriors balanced scoring attack was led by Tanysha Walls with 10, followed by Keiera Ray and Morice with 9 apiece and Williford with 8.
Surdokaite was the game's leading scorer with 20 for the Porters (8-18).
"We came out flat and we weren't aggressive in the first half," said Lockport coach Krista Peterson. "That's disappointing because in a playoff game you should have the motivation to put forth your best effort. We failed to execute for one half. Waubonsie Valley fought for it, they won it and deserved it."