Waubonsie Valley picks up where it left off

Coming off the 2009-10 season when the Waubonsie Valley's girls basketball team went 26-3 and reached the Class 4A sectional final, Warriors coach Kim Connell has to love looking down the roster of a team that performed so well last year.

This year point guard Becky Williford is a junior, as is shooting guard Tami Morice, and the pair were solid in Tuesday night's season opener, a 55-33 Warriors victory over Downers Grove South.

“We had a little turmoil, had some issues at the beginning of the season, but the bottom line as I told them is we just win,” Connell said. “We (will) shut everyone up and win without them.

“I didn't know what to expect. Going against each other, you get a false sense of reality so I'm pleased with the two big quarters we played tonight.”

“People are picking different responsibilities,” Williford said. “We lost some defense, but we're still going to pick that up in other areas like our offense.”

Rachael Ross, manning the paint and looking much improved as a post player thanks to off-season work, poured in 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

“It's my junior year and I'm trying to get better and get ready for college,” Ross said. “I need to be a rebounder, that's my main position throughout basketball, but I've been working on being more of a presence.”

Morice was her usual sharp-shooting self, leading the team with 20 points, while Williford dished out 8 assists. Erica Myers scored 12 points and pulled in 6 rebounds off the bench for the Warriors.

“People have their on and off games,” Williford said. “Tonight, we saw that Tami was hot so I knew if I gave her the ball she would shoot it so that was good for us. Every game doesn't have to be a scoring game because we all have our different roles.”

The Mustangs (0-1) had 9 points apiece from Carly Saraceno and Alison Dec, but aside from a brief run in the second quarter, were outmanned against a tough opponent to start the season.

“I would prefer not to play this game at the start of the season,” Mustangs coach Ellen O'Brien said. “They are a quality program. … I'm a little disappointed in our efforts and energy, however, first-game jitters, it's a little tough. I don't think every school is opening with Waubonsie Valley.”