Walls, Waubonsie snatch victory away from Lake Park

Tanysha Walls wasn't about to let go of the ball - or Waubonsie Valley's share of the Upstate Eight Conference lead.

Walls ripped away a rebound of a Lake Park miss and dribbled out the final seconds of a 46-45 Warriors win on Friday night in Roselle.

"I saw the shot go up," Walls said, "and I knew I had to get that ball no matter what. This game was either going to be tied or we were winning and going home. It was really nerve-wracking. We just had to keep our composure."

No. 5 Waubonsie Valley (18-2, 6-0), which kept pace with St. Charles East atop the UEC and dropped Lake Park two games back, knew its conference schedule would get precipitously tougher in the new year. Prior to Friday, the Warriors' closest in-league game was a 14-point win. They still have both St. Charles schools left.

But this one was good to get.

"Lake Park's a good team," Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said, "and they're on a roll. I'm happy to get out of here with a 1-point win."

Lake Park (11-9, 4-2), which saw its six-game winning streak snapped, had pulled within 46-45 with 21 seconds left on a Carly Willert 3-pointer. At the other end Waubonsie's Keiera Ray missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving the Lancers a last shot at the win with 11.8 ticks left.

Willert drove hard to the left of the lane, but her contested runner was too hard off glass. Walls won the battle for the rebound.

"I was happy with the aggressive play," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. "Carly took it hard to the basket. If anything she's drawing contact and may get to the free-throw line. We got a good look. On another night it might go in."

The final minutes closely resembled Waubonsie's win over Oswego 10 days prior. Both times the Warriors couldn't close the game out at the free-throw line but did make clutch defensive stands at the end.

"The more we're in these situations," Connell said, "the better we're going to be. We're still a young team. I think we grew up a little bit tonight."

A 14-0 Waubonsie run to start the second quarter put the Warriors ahead 24-13, and it was 28-18 at the break as Tami Morice hit a 3-pointer as time expired.

But Lake Park hit its first 5 shots to start the third quarter, part of a 13-3 surge. Chelsea Gieseke tied it at 31-31 with a putback, and a Gieseke jumper with 15 ticks left in the third gave the Lancers a short-lived 35-34 lead.

"I was really proud how they came out in the third quarter," Fruehling said. "They finished their shots and it got contagious."

Trailing by 1 going into the fourth quarter, Lake Park tied it twice - the second time at 42-42 on a Tori Clark drive with 4:46 left. Waubonsie came right back with an Erica Jordan drive and a pair of Ray free throws.

Morice scored 14 points and Ray 12 for Waubonsie.

"We were really pumped up in the huddle at the end," Morice said. "We just told ourselves, 'This is our game, we got it, just don't take any silly fouls.' But we were getting a little nervous there."

Sarah Drozdowski had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Gieseke 10 points and 8 boards and Willert 10 points for Lake Park. Prior to their six-game win streak, the Lancers' last two losses came in overtime and double overtime at the Montini tournament.

"I told the girls, 'Keep your heads up,'" Fruehling said. "We grew from our experiences at the Montini tournament, and we can grow from this."