Waubonsie guts out win over Neuqua
The Waubonsie Valley boys basketball team left Neuqua Valley on Wednesday night happy, and for good reason. Life is always good when one faces a challenge and meets it.
"It was a good team effort to get a conference win on the road, which is tough," Warriors coach Steve Weemer said of the 66-61 victory that pushed Waubonsie to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Upstate Eight Valley.
Neuqua (3-4, 0-2) kept pace with the Warriors the entire contest until the very end, when the victors were sent to the free-throw line and time simply ran out.
Neuqua's Jabari Sandifer split the lane and the traffic in front of him for a layup that cut the Waubonsie lead to 63-61 with just 32.1 seconds left. The Warriors then went 3 of 8 from the free-throw line in the remaining time, but it was enough.
Neuqua led after the opening eight minutes 14-12 on 5-of-15 shooting while Waubonsie was 5 of 9. The Wildcats stayed cool in the second quarter on a 3-of-12 shooting while the Warriors were at 7 of 13 and led 32-29 at intermission.
Wildcats coach Todd Sutton wouldn't have minded have those first 16 minutes back.
"We missed a lot of layups in the first half. I thought we would be up by 15 at halftime on layups," he said.
After scoring just three points in the opening period, Waubonsie junior Jared Brownridge took off with 11 second-quarter points, including two of his game-high five 3-point baskets. He finished with a game-high 29 points.
Brownridge said the team wants to quickly get back on track after suffering its first loss of the season, a 73-66 decision at Naperville Central on Saturday night.
"It's a very good sign. It shows what the team can overcome. We'll head back to practice and come out and go hard the next game," he said.
Weemer was not only pleased with Brownridge's play but that of his bench.
"Javares Stewart came off the bench and he stepped up. Josh De Haan had some nice minutes off the bench. Everyone did," he said.
Jack Cordes was the top scorer off the bench for the Warriors with 9 points.
Brownridge said the play of his teammates was critical to the victory.
"I know the other teams are going to guard me real tight," he said.
The game was physical throughout with a combined 43 free throws being shot.
The Wildcats had three players score in double digits, led by Tyler Sutton with 15 points. Darien Miskel had 12 and Pat Kenny put through 11.
"This was our best game of the year so far offensively and defensively. We've been building up to it and played our best basketball. They just made a few more plays," Sutton said.
Both teams return to conference play this weekend with Waubonsie at Lake Park on Friday night and Neuqua heading to Bartlett on Saturday night.