Waubonsie Valley parries Lincoln-Way East's best shot
If you're a high seed in the IHSA boys basketball playoffs, it's a truism that you're probably going to get your opponent's best effort.
Why? They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, and would like nothing better than to survive and advance. In other words, they're dangerous.
Waubonsie Valley knew this coming into a Class 4A Andrew regional semifinal Tuesday against sub-.500 Lincoln-Way East.
And for a half it looked a little shaky for the Warriors. But in the end Waubonsie Valley's amount of sheer talent won the day and the game 59-44.
The Warriors were only up 22-21 at the half, thanks to three 3-pointers by the Griffins' Julian Barr.
But a halftime adjustment to move senior forward Caymen Woods to guard Barr, along with two substantial runs, proved to be the difference.
"I'm proud of the guys, because Lincoln-Way East is not your typical 15 seed," Waubonsie Valley coach Jason Mead said. "They have a lot of size, they can shoot the ball. They didn't have a bunch of guys who made a lot of 3s today, except for (Barr), but on film, I've seen seven or eight guys make 3s."
Barr made a pair to start the game for the Griffins (14-17) and made another with 38 seconds left in the first half, which gave the Warriors just a 22-21 lead at halftime.
But after it, Waubonsie Valley (26-4) used the 3 to its advantage to create distance. Junior guard Marcus Skeete did the most damage with a pair of 3s from the right arc midway through the third quarter as part of a 9-2 run.
In the fourth quarter Lincoln-Way East crawled to within 37-31, but then the Warriors did their damage inside and at the free-throw line to craft an 8-0 run that sealed the game. In that spurt Skeete and Woods each had a pair of free throws, while senior guard Derrien Porter had a layup off a steal and Skeete drove the lane for a layup.
How does Waubonsie Valley handle the psychological aspect of knowing it's going to get an opponent's best from here on out?
"I think it's just what we've talked about all year - staying within ourselves and not getting too hyped and just play hard," Skeete said. "They had a really good half. We had to get better on defense and we did that in the second half."
Added Woods: "I think, if anything, it enhances our play. They are a 15th seed, Lincoln-Way East, but they were a really good team. They had a lot of good players. We just came out and played our best basketball, we played really hard and stayed focused the whole game."
Skeete led all scorers with 23 points, including four 3 pointers, and 6 rebounds. Porter added 14 on 6-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Woods had 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Barr led the Griffins with 16 points.