Edmondson leads Waubonsie to win

Waubonsie Valley forward Tyler Edmondson has grown a couple inches since last year and now stands at 6-foot-8.

Perhaps the senior's biggest area of growth is his assertiveness.

Edmondson took over the third quarter of the Warriors' Wednesday evening game against Aurora Christian in the Hoops for Healing Tournament at Oswego, scoring 12 of Waubonsie's 33 points in the period to finish with 26 and captain a 76-55 win.

“I feel a lot better,” Edmondson said. “We just have more chemistry as a team. Things just seem more fun and we're a lot more together.”

The relaxed approach helped Waubonsie (2-1) jump out to an 8-0 lead before Aurora Christian (0-3) got things going. To the Eagles' credit, they took a 26-24 lead in the second quarter as point guard Dean Danos got hot, finishing with 17 points.

“We just have to keep fighting,” Eagles coach Steve Hanson said. “These teams are a lot bigger, stronger than us.”

Nick Marema scored 14, but the Eagles offense went cold in the third quarter at the same time that Edmondson heated up. He collected 7 rebounds for the game and left late in the third quarter after showing off his versatility as Waubonsie went up by 20.

“He can hit a 15-foot jump shot,” Warriors coach Steve Weemer said. “Then he goes and gets a rebound and a putback. The way he attacked the glass, I was pleased. He's got to continue to do that for us.”

Jared Brownridge scored 17 for Waubonsie, knocking down 4 of the Warriors' five 3-pointers.

After righting the ship following Tuesday's loss to Geneva, Waubonsie has a template for success as long as Edmondson hasn't set the bar too high.

“If he does that, he's going to have one heck of a year for himself and our team,” Weemer said.