Waubonsie Valley looks to the future

Tami Morice won't be seeing Megan Rogowski in a Hersey uniform this week at Wheaton North, of that the Waubonsie Valley senior is sure.

She's had closure with her own two eyes.

"I went to her game at DePaul the other day," Morice said, "and I looked at her and said to myself, 'She's done.' I don't have to worry about her anymore."

Rogowski denied Waubonsie the title at the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic the last two years, but the No. 1 seed Warriors took the first step toward that elusive crown with a 65-50 first-round win over Schaumburg on Monday.

Morice and Rachael Ross both scored 17 points and Gratia Brooks 15 for Waubonsie (9-1), which advances to play Wheaton North tonight.

"We talk about winning it, but we have to take it one game at a time," Morice said. "We can't look ahead. But we do want to win it really bad."

Waubonsie's offensive execution in the first half couldn't have been better. The Warriors jumped out to leads of 11-1 and 19-6, and a Morice 3-pointer made it 31-14. It was 37-23 by halftime, a half in which Waubonsie turned the ball over just once.

"Everybody set screens and we did what we had to do," said Morice, one of four Waubonsie senior starters. "We ran our offense, we moved the ball and waited for the perfect shot."

Morice scored 13 of her 17 in the first half, and open looks for Waubonsie's best shooter was a welcome sight to Warriors coach Kim Connell.

"In Tami's case I'm kind of glad we got a draw with a team that really doesn't know a whole lot about us or her," Connell said. "It was nice to see her on."

Waubonsie's lead eventually grew to 47-26, but from there Schaumburg sped up the pace and a 10-0 run closed the gap to 47-36. A 3-pointer by Alyssa Saklak, who scored 22 points for the Saxons (4-9), made it 49-39 in the first minute of the fourth quarter but Morice answered with a 3 of her own.

"We focused on getting transition points," Schaumburg coach Ashley Berggren said. "It's just a matter of sustaining that intensity for more than just a few minutes."

The Saxons (4-9) are no strangers to tough opponents, having already played Fremd, Trinity and Bartlett just this month.

"Waubonsie seems to have strength inside and outside," Berggren said, "which I would say the other teams we've played have either been strong on the perimeter or inside. They seem to have strength from every spot on the floor."

Waubonsie's 65 points were a season high, but the second-half letdown is nothing new to Connell. It's a trend she'd just as soon do without.

"It's one of the things my assistant and I preach, is valuing possessions and playing a whole game," Connell said. "We just got to be smarter for 32 minutes.

"Winning that championship game, that's a monkey we'd like to get off our back this year. The seniors deserve it. I'd like to see them win it."