Morice, Waubonsie Valley too hot for W. Aurora

When facing a team that plays defense the way Waubonsie Valley does, opponents can often be in for a long night.

When that same Warriors team has a player as hot as Tami Morice was in the first half Thursday night, it's almost unfair. Morice nailed five 3-pointers in the first half as Waubonsie (25-2) broke out to a 19-point halftime lead on the way to a 55-28 defeat of West Aurora in the Class 4A West Aurora regional championship game.

Morice tallied the game's first 8 points and the Warriors led 10-0 before the Blackhawks even attempted a shot. After two quarters of action, Morice had 18 of her game-high 19 points while connecting on 7 of 11 shots (including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc).

"I was just ready for this and we were all pumped up," said the sophomore sharpshooter, who struggled in the pregame 3-point shooting contest. "It felt good after I didn't do too well in the contest."

The Upstate Eight Conference champs played their usual strong defense - forcing West Aurora into 25 turnovers - and were never threatened after storming ahead 15-4 after one quarter. The Blackhawks' cause wasn't helped when Kiara Towles picked up her third foul with 2:14 left in the half and then was whistled for a questionable fourth foul in the third quarter, which meant more time than usual on the bench for the senior who closed her senior season with 9 points and 6 rebounds.

First-year Waubonsie coach Kim Connell, who now has conference and regional titles with her young squad, was nervous entering the game.

"I didn't have a good feeling all day," she said. "We're playing the same team three times and we're playing on their court and we had a few girls sick."

But the worries didn't last long as Tanysha Walls had a pair of free throws and Erica Jordan scored inside following Morice's 8 opening points and the Warriors had a quick 12-2 lead. The defense took over from there, limiting West Aurora to 17 points through three quarters before the teams played to an 11-11 draw in the final quarter as both teams went deep to their benches.

"It was all about our defense again," Connell said. "But I was kinda happy she (Morice) hit those 3s. She kinda struggled in the 3-point contest, but I told her she was just saving them for the game."

Walls had 10 points and 3 steals and Ray added 9 points and 3 steals as the Warriors advance to Monday's Oswego East sectional semis against Benet.

For Blackhawks coach Connie Siljendahl, it will be difficult to replace a strong senior class led by Towles, Devin Vaughn and Jasmine Johnson, who missed Thursday's game with an injury. Vaughn paced the 12-16 squad with 13 points against the Warriors.

"That's the hard part. We're going to miss Kiara, Devin and Jasmine a lot," she said. "That's three major seniors and they're going to be tough to replace. We have some big shoes to fill."