Waubonsie Valley holds off Bartlett
Waubonsie Valley senior Josh DeHaan has a specific role on his team.
As a spot-up shooter, DeHaan spends a lot of time waiting to get a clear shot at the basket, mainly when teams are keying on Warriors' leading scorer Jared Brownridge. Even though it took him quite a while in Saturday's Upstate Eight Valley Division game at Bartlett, DeHaan scored when the Warriors needed him the most.
The senior guard nailed a 3-pointer, off a pass from Brownridge, to put Waubonsie Valley up 40-36. The Warriors then managed to hold on for the final 3 minutes, 8 seconds to win their fourth straight 45-40.
"We knew all year everyone is keying on Jared," said DeHaan, who scored 3 points in the win. It's my job to sit in the corner and Jared is going to find me. I'm always ready to shoot. I do my role."
Jack Cordes played his role to perfection for the Warriors as well. The sophomore sank a pair of free throws giving Waubonsie (10-4, 2-1) a 43-38 lead with 47 seconds left. Bartlett (7-7, 1-3) had come back to 40-38 when Marcus Aluquin sank a pair of free throws with 2:24 left in the game. The Hawks would not score again until Jonathan Leigeber scored a basket with 11 seconds left.
Bartlett struggled to get a shot off in the game's final minutes, allowing 28 seconds to pass between Cordes' free throws and its next shot, which was a Leigeber miss.
"We took a little bit too much time running stuff," Hawks' coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We ran the clock all the way down to 19 seconds before we got a shot."
Leigeber provided the majority of the Hawks' offense in the second half. The senior guard scored all 13 of his points in the second half, connecting on 3 3-pointers. He finished with 13 of the Hawks' 21 second-half points including scoring 7 of the team's 9 fourth-quarter points.
The senior had a basket and a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter to tie the game at 36, which was the first time of the night that Waubonsie did not lead.
The offensive surge came after Waubonsie led 28-19 at the half. Brandon Malby put up all 13 of his points in the first half and Brownridge (12 points) scored 9.
Bartlett came within a basket three different times in the second half, the first time coming when Lorenzo Mitchell (7 points, 6 rebounds) scored to cut the lead to 34-31 with a basket with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
"I'm happy to get out of here with a win," Warriors' coach Steve Weemer said. "That was a big shot for Josh. He knows we want him to shoot that shot."