Waubonsie Valley nears Upstate Eight crown
Waubonsie Valley isn't celebrating yet - but this sure looked like a championship defense.
The Upstate Eight-leading Warriors cleared a big hurdle toward an outright conference title Friday, smothering St. Charles North 48-28 in Aurora.
"We took them out of everything they wanted to do offensively," Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said. "Great team defense, great job rebounding."
Waubonsie Valley (21-2, 8-0) can clinch the UEC Tuesday night at St. Charles East, which trails the Warriors by two games in the loss column.
"We're in a pretty good place," said Waubonsie's Becky Williford, who scored 9 points Friday, "but we have to take it game by game. We're up for the challenge against St. Charles East. We know it's anybody's game between the two of us."
St. Charles North (19-8, 6-4) came in on a seven-game win streak. But the North Stars shot a woeful 2 of 21 from 3-point range. On top of that, they managed a mere 1 offensive rebound over the first three quarters, finishing south of 30 points for just the second time.
Not the North Stars coach Colleen Brennan is familiar with.
"We had about half as many rebounds as what we normally have. That's a hard basketball game to play," said Brennan of the 38-21 rebound disparity. "When you're shooting 10 percent from the 3-point line and 20 percent from the 2-point line, that's a tough combination. We had a hard time adjusting and our confidence decreased. I haven't seen that in a while."
Rhode Island recruit Kiley Hackbarth was held to 6 points, half her average, hounded by Williford. Hackbarth's first points didn't come until 3:10 left in the third quarter.
"We knew she was a big penetrator," Williford said, "and she could shoot the wide 3. Coach told me to stay up on her and go over the screens, because she can catch and shoot. Keep my hand up on her. I looked forward to the challenge."
Tied 10-10 a minute into the second quarter, Waubonsie grabbed control of things with a 13-0 run. A pair of Williford free throws started it, and a Tami Morice spinning drive followed by a Morice 3-pointer made it 23-10 with 2:35 left in the half. Waubonsie held St. Charles North scoreless for nearly six minutes.
A Sidney Russell three-point play pulled St. Charles North within 34-27 with 4:58 left in the fourth quarter, but Waubonsie answered with a 12-0 run. The Warriors, a 52 percent free-throw shooting team, hit their first 8 attempts of the fourth quarter, 20 of 26 for the game.
"We know when it comes down to it free throws is what wins close games," said Waubonsie's Keiera Ray, who was 6 of 6 at the line to go with 8 points and 10 rebounds. "We're at the point where, 'Hey we're shooting 50-some percent. We need to shoot 60 or 70 percent to get to where we want to go this time of year.'"
Jenna Bell paced St. Charles North with 11 points.
"I'm not going to say we're going to bounce back," Brennan said, "because I don't think this is a huge setback. We're ready to finish the season strong. I'm confident we're going to. That's certainly not our team that we saw tonight."