Metea comes close but can’t top Waubonsie

Approaching the midway point of the fourth quarter, Metea Valley had Waubonsie Valley right where it wanted the Warriors.

Leading Warriors scorer Tia Brooks was headed to the bench with her fourth foul. The underdog Mustangs (7-22) were within 5 points, but the remarkable upset bid ended right there.

Waubonsie Valley (23-4) gathered itself to make a late run and captured a 52-39 win in the Class 4A Downers South regional Tuesday night.

As quickly as Brooks hit the bench, Waubonsie junior Becky Williford intercepted a Metea pass and finished the play with a layup.

“(Williford) sets the stage for the team,” Brooks said. “When she transitions well, we all transition well.”

Warriors senior Tanysha Gardner-Walls completely put to bed Metea’s momentum just seconds after Williford’s basket.

Gardner-Walls drew contact while draining a layup, and although she missed the ensuing free throw, she stretched the lead back to 9 points. All this while Brooks patiently waited to return for the final minutes of the fourth.

In the past two weeks the Mustangs gained their first Upstate Eight Conference win and knocked off Plainfield North to advance in the regional. Warriors coach Kim Connell never looked past the fact Metea came into the game playing its best basketball of the season.

“I knew Metea would be motivated, but we looked slow and tired,” Connell said. “I don’t think we underestimated them. We didn’t take care of the ball and we weren’t patient on offense.”

Before Brooks was sidelined with foul trouble she was busy scoring her game-high 15 points.

“We got quick baskets in transition,” Connell said. “But we’d get a couple baskets and then we’d make mistakes on the other end.”

Metea sophomore center Lori Obendorf’s play in the post kept her team in contention until the final minutes of regulation.

“We weren’t letting them shove us around. We matched their physicality, ” said Metea coach Kris Kalivas.

Obendorf kept superior inside position for most of the game with the majority of her 12 points coming from inside the paint.

“I thought our post defense should have been more aggressive,” Connell said. “It’s one and done and we know what we’re capable of. We just have to put it all together.”

When Brooks returned to the lineup for the last three minutes of regulation she immediately connected on two quick layups to put the game away.

“We transitioned better in the second half and started making our layups,” Brooks said. “From here out we need to do a better job playing defense in the post.”