Waubonsie Valley wins sixth straight regional
Waubonsie Valley protected its home court Thursday with poise and power.
Now the Warriors get a shot at payback.
The No. 3 seed Warriors held No. 6 Oswego East scoreless for nearly seven minutes in a critical second-half stretch, pulling away for a 50-29 win at the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley regional final in Aurora.
Waubonsie (25-2) wrapped up an unbeaten record at home this year with its sixth straight regional title.
It was touch-and-go for three quarters, but the wily Warriors showed their mettle.
“It was just our maturity,” said Becky Williford, one of four Waubonsie senior starters. “We gathered ourselves well and kept our composure. Their crowd was pretty rowdy, but you just need to block that out.”
Next up is Benet, a 62-37 winner over Plainfield East, in a Tuesday sectional semifinal at Neuqua Valley. Benet ousted Waubonsie in the same round last year and beat the Warriors 56-37 at the McDonald’s Shootout in January. That game, though, was close for all but the third quarter.
“We’re very excited about playing Benet — it’s something we’ve anticipated,” Waubonsie senior Rachael Ross said. “We know what we have to do. We have to play four good quarters.”
The 6-foot-3 Ross was a big part of Waubonsie’s domination on the glass against quicker but less physical Oswego East. Ross had 14 rebounds to go with 11 points, Gratia Brooks had 13 boards, Erica Jordan 11 and as a team the Warriors pulled down 54 rebounds — 25 at the offensive end. Oswego East, by contrast, had 25 total rebounds.
“That’s one of our strengths, and that’s what we expect to do,” Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said. “Gratia is our offensive rebound specialist (she had 9). She picks up other people’s scraps.”
Waubonsie was in a dogfight with Oswego East, seeking its first regional title, late in the third quarter.
Tami Morice and Ross were on the bench with four fouls, and Oswego East (19-9) had the pace quicker than Waubonsie’s liking. Arneasa Blair, who scored 13 points for the Wolves, threw in a jumper off a Warriors turnover to make it 31-26 with 1:51 left.
But Shannon Hohman split two free throws to stop the bleeding, and Williford banked in a runner in the closing seconds to send Waubonsie into the fourth quarter up 34-26.
From there Waubonsie methodically ground down an opponent that seemed to panic late.
Oswego East shot 25 percent and also struggled from the free-throw line, making just 6 of 22.
“Toward the end we saw (Oswego East) forcing up a bunch of 3s,” Williford said. “It was a cold night for them shooting and we took advantage of that.”
The Warriors got big minutes off the bench from sophomore post Ryaen Johnson, who had 8 rebounds. A Ross basket with 3:21 left capped off a 14-0 run.
Williford and Jordan scored 12 points and Brooks 11.
“Johnson and Hohman, they gave us much-needed minutes,” Connell said. “Most teams are faster than us, but we like to play physical. Outstanding defensive effort.”