Waubonsie's Ross has big game against Naperville Central

Waubonsie Valley coach Kim Connell calls 6-foot-3 junior Rachael Ross "definitely a big-game player."

She sure was Saturday.

Ross had 17 points and 8 rebounds, and No. 9 Waubonsie took it to No. 20 Naperville Central 54-26 in Aurora.

Ross, matched up with 6-3 Redhawks junior Emma Donahue, scored 15 of her points over the decisive second and third quarters. Waubonsie turned an 11-9 deficit after a quarter into a surprising 37-19 Warriors runaway that only ballooned further in the fourth quarter.

"You play everybody the same," Ross said, "in the sense that you still have to get position and you still have to work hard. Maybe when somebody is my height it's a shot fake and then go up. But most of the time you play everybody the same."

Connell has predicted a possible breakout season for Ross. She scored 13 on Tuesday at Bartlett and made scoring look easy inside against a quality center.

"I want her to be that way every game," Connell said. "Donahue's a good player; to be able to take her on one-and-one and finish, that's the difference with Rachael between last year and this year."

Just like the night before versus Metea Valley, Waubonsie faced a box-and-one defense targeting Tami Morice. But the Warriors (8-1) were surgical in their precision attacking it Saturday.

"Metea kind of did us a favor," Connell said. "We could work out the kinks."

Warriors point guard Becky Williford routinely got into the lane, where she found Ross and Tia Brooks waiting near the basket. Brooks scored 16 points, and Williford had 8 assists.

"We were trying to penetrate as much as we could," Williford said. "They were sticking to the box-and-one on Tami. That opened up the middle for us, which opened up more opportunities for the posts. They did an exceptional job finishing tonight. I think this could be a breakthrough game for Rachael and Tia."

Naperville Central (5-4) had no answers at its end, either. The Redhawks went without a field goal the final 4:53 of the first half and 2:06 into the third quarter.

Donahue scored 11 points, while leading scorer Emma Ondik was held to 6. The Redhawks were without starting guard Jill D'Amico, in North Carolina for a soccer tournament.

"The wheels fell off slowly in the second quarter," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said, "and they fell off completely in the third quarter. They beat us in every phase. We got punched in the mouth and didn't punch back."

Connell gave a big assist to Williford, and Waubonsie's team defense, for harassing Ondik to a 1-for-11 shooting night.

"We wanted to contain her, get out on her outside shot," Williford said. "I had a lot of help from the other girls. Every time Ondik would drive they would collapse on her, make her kick it out."

There's no let-up for the Warriors, who are at unbeaten Neuqua Valley on Tuesday.

"We're definitely not taking them lightly," Williford said. "Both of us have a statement to make. Coming off of last season they want to make a statement to us, and we want to make a statement to other people."