Waubonsie Valley flips for victory

At the free-throw line was the last place Waubonsie Valley wanted to be for the first 30 minutes Tuesday night.

But there stood Gratia Brooks, shooting two down a point to Neuqua Valley with 1:40 left.

"It's a nervous situation," Brooks said. "I knew I had to make them for my team."

Brooks swished a pair, Becky Williford later did the same and No. 3 Waubonsie withstood a 14-point blown lead to beat No. 11 Neuqua Valley 45-38 and clinch a share of the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division championship.

Moments after the game, Waubonsie Valley (22-2, 11-1) won the coin flip tiebreaker with co-champ Bartlett and will play at Geneva on Friday in the matchup of UEC division champs.

"We dug deep and did what we needed to do," said Waubonsie's Tami Morice, one of four senior starters. "This was more than about Waubonsie-Neuqua."

It wasn't without its share of drama. Waubonsie, up by as many as 14 points in the first half and 13 in the third quarter, watched the lead vanish. Free throws were a big culprit, the Warriors making just 2 of their first 11 at the line. Starting with Brooks' pair, though, they made 5 of their last 6.

"Those free throws, they just weren't agreeing with us," Williford said, "but when the game was on the line we had some people make some clutch ones."

Neuqua Valley (20-6, 7-5), dreadful offensively in the first half, took its first lead at 37-36 with 1:53 left when Morice tripped over the screener and Neuqua's Megan Doody nailed a step-back 3-pointer.

After Brooks' free throws, though, Morice found redemption by stealing a pass and taking it the other way for a score.

"I was mad," Morice said with a laugh, recalling falling down on Doody's 3. "I had to do something to get that back."

Neuqua coach Mike Williams could appreciate his team's fight after nearly getting buried in an ugly first half. Back-to-back Morice 3s, two of Waubonsie's six on the night, gave the Warriors a 19-5 lead early in the second quarter. Neuqua managed just 3 made field goals the entire first half.

But Doody hit three 3s after the break, Malia Smith knocked down a pair of clutch jumpers in the fourth quarter and Neuqua cranked up its defensive pressure. Not helping Waubonsie's cause, Rachael Ross and Brooks went to the bench with four fouls midway through the third quarter.

Waubonsie coach Kim Connell is used to this uneven play by now.

"We get a 13-point lead, we got to do what we can to protect it," Connell said, "but that's our team. I'm not surprised that we let them back into the game."

Erica Jordan had 13 points, Morice 12 and Williford 10. Kristen Moore added 6 points and Najee Smith 9 rebounds for Neuqua, whose rotation was shorter than earlier in the season. Nikki Lazar is out with an ankle injury, and Amarah Coleman and Shay Robinson are no longer with the team.

"We were timid in the first half for whatever reason," Williams said. "You can only coach so much. The kids have to figure out that we're as good as the next team, we're as good as the next player and we're as good as anybody.

"The second half we played great I thought we had them on the ropes. If we can come out intense right from the beginning we can be a dangerous team."