Waubonsie Valley will get chance it wanted

Ever since moving to the western suburbs from Rockford last spring, Kim Connell has pointed to Bolingbrook as a measuring stick for her Waubonsie Valley program.

Tonight Connell finds out how the Warriors measure up.

No. 2 seed Waubonsie, in its first sectional final since 1999, takes on No. 1 and defending state champion Bolingbrook in the Class 4A Oswego East sectional final.

Bolingbrook (25-1) hasn't lost to an in-state team since the 2008 state championship game. The Raiders are going for their sixth straight sectional title. Benet is the last team to beat the Raiders in sectionals, in the 2004 final.

Waubonsie, on the other hand, last won a sectional in 1999, when Ashley Luke led the Warriors to the Class AA state quarterfinals.

"As long as the sectional stays the way it is, we're going to have to go through Bolingbrook if we want to get down to state," Connell said. "I think the kids are looking forward to the challenge."

Critical for Waubonsie (26-2) is how the Warriors and 5-foot-2 sophomore point guard Becky Williford handle Bolingbrook's relentless pressure. Williford will be matched up with junior Ariel Massengale, considered a top-five recruit nationally in the class of 2011.

"We have to be smart with the ball, all the girls," Connell said. "Our passes have to be smart and crisp. Bolingbrook's probably the first team we're going to play this season that's as athletic as us, if not more."

Equally important is how Waubonsie protects the defensive glass. The Warriors tallest starter is 5-foot-9. Sophomore guard Keiera Ray is their leading rebounder. Bolingbrook counters with 6-2 sophomore Morgan Tuck, another top five player nationally in her class, and 6-1 sophomore Cabriana Capers. Capers moved in to Bolingbrook from Minnesota this school year.

"They're not just big," Connell said. "They're big with wingspans."

Teams that zone Bolingbrook, like Montini at the McDonald's Shootout, have been able to slow down the Raiders. But Connell won't stray from her team's tough man-to-man defense that has surrendered fewer than 40 points in each of Waubonsie's last eight games.

"That's who we are," Connell said. "If we're going to go down, we're going to go down doing what we do best.

"I don't know how seriously (Bolingbrook) is taking us. Our girls are confident that they can compete."