Girls Basketball: Waubonsie Valley hangs on to beat Metea Valley
Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: January 31, 2012 11:02PM
After coming off a huge win, often times it can be human nature to come out and lose that momentum the next time out.
That is what Waubonsie Valley’s girls basketball team experienced Tuesday against Upstate Eight Valley rival Metea Valley.
Coming off their biggest win of the season, knocking off previously unbeaten Bartlett Friday, the Warriors had to survive an ugly, 36-32 win over Metea.
“Coming off Bartlett, we played amazing, and then we come out and play like this,” said Waubonsie senior Tami Morice, who paced the Warriors with 11 points. “We weren’t really happy with the win, but it’s a win, I guess. It happens to us a lot. We’ll play like we did against Bartlett, and then we’ll come out and play to our opponent’s level. We should be better than that.”
Waubonsie (20-2 overall, 10-1 UEC Valley) took a slim, 26-24 lead into the fourth quarter. Senior Becky Williford provided a bit of a cushion by scoring the first five points of the quarter, but the Mustangs (12-12, 5-6), who have also been riding a hot streak with quality wins over Neuqua Valley and Hinsdale South last week, did not lay down.
Bria Walker hit a pair of three-pointers down the stretch, the second coming with 1:35 left that cut the Waubonsie lead to 33-32. But despite being in the bonus since the final minute of the third quarter, Metea continued to fire away from the outside, missing four late three-pointers as a team, instead of trying to get to the free throw line. The Mustangs did not attempt a free throw in the fourth quarter, and Waubonsie did just enough down the stretch to avoid the upset.
“We had them in foul trouble, and we settled for three-pointers instead of taking the ball to the hole and getting to the free throw line,” Metea coach Kris Kalivas said. “We just need to be a little smarter in those situations. I’m OK with it. They know they have the green light to shoot, but when we’re in that situation, Bria is a great free throw shooter. We want to get her to the line with the clock stopped so that we’re not hurrying and trying to take a shot that we’re not as ready to take.”
Walker led all scorers with 14 points for Metea. Lori Obendorf also had a solid game, recording 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots in the loss.
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