Waubonsie Valley pulls away from Downers South
If a basketball team was like an engine, the Waubonsie Valley girls squad needed just a short time to get warm and then the Warriors were firing on all cylinders in a big way.
Waubonsie Valley (29-3) pulled away from Downers Grove South (18-14) en route to winning 58-41 on Thursday night to win the Class 4A Oswego East regional. It's the third straight regional plaque for the Warriors.
According to Waubonsie coach Brett Love, the team's success this season has been the best of many worlds.
"They love to work hard. The team chemistry is amazing and they are very coachable," he said. "We're still young, but they play like they've been playing a long time."
Next up for the Warriors is a drive down Route 34 a little bit west for the Oswego sectional. Waubonsie, seeded second, faces third-seeded Downers Grove North in semifinal play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Trojans won their own regional, also on Thursday night, 55-32 over Yorkville.
The Warriors' biggest advantage of the early portion of the game came when Maya Cobb's basket put Waubonsie up 20-11. She finished with 10 points, one of four squad members to score in double digits.
Three unanswered buckets pulled the seventh-seeded Trojans to within 20-17.
The first half ended with an exciting highlight as Waubonsie's Arianna Garcia hit a 3-point basket from just in front of half-court line at the buzzer to put her team up 25-17 at halftime.
"I knew I had a second. I just put it up there," Garcia said.
The Warriors blew the game open in the third quarter with Danyella Mporokoso scoring 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second half including nine in the third frame.
Mporokoso said the team just has to continue doing what it has been doing as it advances in the playoffs.
"We need to be disciplined on defense and take advantage of the ball on offense," she said.
Waubonsie led 44-26 at the end of third quarter and led by as much as 25 in the final quarter of play.
Garcia also had 10 points and Hannah Laub hit for 13.
Downers South was led on offense by Hayven Hardin with 14 points. Allison Jarvis followed with 11.