Waubonsie Valley routs South Elgin
The Waubonsie Valley girls basketball team was going to make sure Tuesday night it was not going to repeat its performance from last season at South Elgin.
Last season, the Warriors dominated the Storm at home, winning by 40, and then lost by 15 at South Elgin.
Waubonsie, which won by 13 earlier this season, never trailed Tuesday night and routed the host Storm, 62-36, in Upstate Eight Valley action.
“We talked about last year. They were aware of it,” Warriors coach Kim Connell said. “South Elgin’s a good enough team that if we came out here and laid an egg, they would beat us. We made them plenty aware of it.”
The second-ranked Warriors (14-1, 5-1) got 6 points from Tami Morice in the first quarter. Rachel Ross added 5 and Gratia Brooks had 4 as Waubonsie took a 17-10 lead. Brooks scored 6 points in the first 2½ minutes of the second quarter, helping the Warriors score the first 10 points of the quarter to open a 27-10 lead.
Waubonsie led 31-13 at halftime as Brooks and Ross combined for 19 points, almost all coming in the paint.
“All practice we’ve been working on trying to attack the gaps,” Waubonsie senior guard Becky Williford said. “When we attacked from the middle, it opened up more views for the posts and the posts were finishing their shots.”
The Warriors continued to dominate in the second half. They led 47-20 after three quarters and led by as many as 32 in the fourth quarter.
South Elgin (12-8, 2-6) struggled to do much right. The Storm was outrebounded, 43-22, and shot just 18.9 percent (10-for-53).
Becca Smith led the Storm with 19 points but was just 5 of 26 from the field. Savanah Uvegas added 9 points, all in the second half. Kennede Miller had 8 rebounds.
“All I can say is we’re going to start all over tomorrow,” South Elgin coach Tim Pendergast said. “It’s just one of those games, you can’t wait to get out of there and go practice the next day and get better.”
Brooks finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead Waubonsie, which shot 53.2 percent (25-for-47). Ross added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Morice had 12 points and Williford had 10.