Waubonsie Valley stops Wheaton North
Waubonsie Valley knows all too well the feeling of getting single-handedly beaten by one person at Wheaton North.
Imagine the Warriors’ mindset when Wheaton North’s Maddie Baillie went off for 21 points in the first half Tuesday.
“It was like another (Megan) Rogowski kinda,” said Waubonsie senior Tami Morice with a laugh.
The No. 1 seed Warriors buckled down in the second half, held Baillie scoreless the rest of the way and pulled away to beat Wheaton North 64-48 in second-round action at the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic.
Morice and Erica Jordan switched off on Baillie, limiting the Wheaton North guard to just 2 second-half shots.
“When I went back on her I just tagged her the whole time, face-guarded her,” Morice said. “We had to stop her.”
Waubonsie Valley (10-1), which advances to play Lyons Twp. in tonight’s 7:30 semifinal, was balanced scoring across the board. Jordan scored 15 points, Gratia Brooks 14 and Morice and Becky Williford 12 apiece.
The Warriors went to the free-throw line 38 times, making 24. Seventeen of those attempts came in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors cleared out and repeatedly drew contact.
“It’s called ‘Indian,’ either to hold the ball or to score, and we were running it to score because we were in the bonus,” Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said. “We’re not the best free-throw shooting team, but we made enough tonight.”
Wheaton North (6-7), a much younger team than Waubonsie, came in riding a four-game winning streak. The Falcons led 11-5 early behind Baillie’s hot start, trailed 30-29 after a well-played first half and led 37-36 with 2:14 left in the third quarter after two Chrissy Baird free throws.
The Falcons played well, but Waubonsie’s experience showed.
“That team is (10-1) for a reason,” Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said. “We gave it everything we had. Our kids took a step forward tonight.”
With Jordan and Rachael Ross on the bench with four fouls, Warriors freshmen Ryaen Johnson and Shannon Hohman came through with a short spurt of quality minutes. A 7-0 Warriors run capped by a Brooks driving layup made it 43-37.
“Our two freshmen, they did what we needed them to do,” Connell said. “They didn’t last night and I told them they gotta be ready in these big games.”