Analysis: Waubonsie Comes Out Strong Thursday

DOWNERS GROVE – Earning a No. 2 sectional seed put a target directly on the back of Waubonsie Valley’s girls basketball heading into the postseason.

And the Warriors came out with a lackluster performance in Tuesday’s win over Metea Valley in the regional semifinal.

In the day between that win and Thursday’s Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional title game against Oswego East, that lack of enthusiasm was clearly addressed.

The Warriors looked like a different team in their 51-30 win, advancing to the Romeoville Sectional. The Warriors scored the first seven points of the game in the opening 1 minutes 21 seconds, forcing three quick turnovers and limiting the Wolves to no shot attempts in the process. Oswego East never threatened again.

“We haven’t seen that team in a long time,” Waubonsie coach Kim Connell said. “I was glad to see that. At least I know that they know it’s tournament time and they have to take that step forward.”

The experience of last year’s postseason run may have helped, particularly in the second half. Oswego East sliced the lead to nine at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors overcame one of their main problems this season by putting the hammer down to start the fourth quarter. They scored the first 12 points of the final eight minutes and never looked back.

“What we wanted to do was come out with a higher intensity than we did Tuesday,” Waubonsie point guard Becky Williford said.

“I think that intensity sets the tone. Once you have intensity, it opens up so many opportunities for your team. When we went on that 7-0 run (to start the game), that picked up the momentum for us.”

Another big key was rebounding. A whopping 16 of Waubonsie’s points came on rebound put-backs off the offensive glass, including the first 10 of Gratia Brooks’ 13 points for the game. The sophomore forward also led the team with 10 rebounds, helping Waubonsie to a nine-rebound edge in the game.

“She was huge,” Connell said. “We try to get the ball to Rachael because she’s our center, and Tia just hangs around and picks up the garbage. She was able to hang onto the ball and she had a lot of put-backs. She was huge for us tonight.”

Next up will be a showdown with Benet, a team full of sharpshooters that will have a big size disadvantage in the low post against Waubonsie. It’s a rematch of last year’s 66-34 Waubonsie win in the sectional semifinals.

A win would set up a sectional title match-up Thursday against the state’s No. 1 team, Bolingbrook. The Raiders knocked out Waubonsie in the sectional final last year.

“They’re small, but they have a bunch of three-point shooters,” Connell said. “We’ll work in practice on that and, hopefully, be ready to go Tuesday.”