Waubonsie welcomes back Williford

Waubonsie Valley broke its postgame huddle, and one Warrior playfully yelled "welcome back Becky Williford."

The Warriors had reason to cheer.

Senior point guard Williford returned to the court for the first time since tearing an ACL last June, and the second-ranked Warriors responded with perhaps their most complete performance of the young season, handling No. 12 Naperville Central 46-33 on Saturday in Naperville.

"I always think we can play better," said Waubonsie senior Erica Jordan, who scored a game-high 15 points, "but this game we stepped up, started off well and continued throughout. Every game you're going to have lapses, but for the most part I thought we played good."

Williford checked in with 2:09 left in the first quarter to a warm ovation. The Warriors starting point guard since her sophomore year scored 6 points in just less than 15 minutes of court time and also dished out a pair of assists.

"It felt great I hung in there longer than expected," Williford said. "I had those first-game jitters at first, but I tried to just forget about (the knee)."

Waubonsie (6-0) has been plagued by inconsistency in the early going this season despite its unbeaten record, but defense and rebounding should be a constant calling card. The Warriors sure stifled Naperville Central (4-4).

Waubonsie led 6-4 after an ugly first quarter, and 6 points by Rachael Ross and 5 by freshman Shannon Hohman pushed the advantage to 20-15 by halftime.

Waubonsie broke it open out of the break and did it with defense. Naperville Central managed just one field goal and 6 points in the third quarter, the Warriors' lead ballooning to 17 at one point after a lob from Williford to Ross.

"The most important thing is we stayed out of foul trouble," Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said. "We pride ourselves on our physical defense, and a lot of that can depend on how the game is called."

In Waubonsie's 12-0 run that opened things up Jordan personally scored 9 straight points. More known as her team's defensive stopper, Jordan hit a 3-pointer, scored in transition and on a runner, then made a nice drive through the Redhawks defense.

"I work hard on my 'D,'" Jordan said, "but I like to shoot and I like to go to the basket."

Emma Donahue had 13 points and 5 rebounds but didn't receive much support scoring for Naperville Central. Missing senior guard Jill D'Amico, in Georgia at a soccer tournament, didn't help. Neither did the 2-of-15 shooting from 3-point range or the 23 turnovers.

"Waubonsie did a good job of limiting Donahue and they took away our inside game to a degree," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said, "but if they're going to do that we gotta make shots. If you're going to have a limited-possession game you have to make shots and do the little things."

Ross had 11 points and 5 rebounds and Hohman chipped in 8 points all in the first half for Waubonsie. Connell stopped short of calling it her team's best game, but she did appreciate that they cut down on turnovers and other mistakes.

"This was probably one of our most consistent games," she said.