Waubonsie enjoys new rivalry more
As Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said, “It's the start of something good.”
The first varsity boys basketball game between new Indian Prairie District 204 rivals Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley was a good one. Especially for Waubonsie.
A large, lively Thursday crowd saw the visiting Warriors win the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division contest 63-52 in Aurora.
“It's a lot of fun to play in,” said Waubonsie guard Jakobi Johnson, who scored a game-high 21 points and helped hold Metea 15 points below its average. “You've got your adrenaline going. You just play through it — play harder, you jump faster, run faster.”
Two years ago Metea's juniors attended Waubonsie Valley. This loss stung a bit.
“I think it does a little bit. We know those guys, obviously, we're still friends with some of them,” said Metea 14-point scorer Kenny Obendorf, whose older brother Kyle once was a Warriors forward. “But it's just another basketball game, it's one loss. We'll move on and keep working hard.”
Effort wasn't a problem. On a couple fronts Waubonsie Valley (10-6, 2-2) was actually fortunate to snap a three-game losing streak.
Metea Valley (10-8, 2-4) made 22 of 34 free throws to Waubonsie's 13 of 26. The Warriors' usual high scorer, Jared Brownridge, had 11 points, low for him.
But Waubonsie's man-to-man defense forced Metea into 14-of-52 shooting. Austin Keys' 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench paced a 44-33 Waubonsie rebounding edge.
“Really overall it was a great team win and I thought our defense was really great when it had to be,” said Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer.
Metea never was out of it — but also never got over the hump.
Taking an early 10-7 lead on two Keys putbacks and a Brandon Malby free throw, Waubonsie Valley didn't trail again.
Down 31-24 at halftime, Metea edged within 33-30. Warriors guard Tyler Yanisch then led an 8-0 run, finding Tyler Edmondson for a dunk and Keys for an inside hoop off a no-look, behind-the-head pass.
Students yelled, “Yani, Yani!”
“I know a lot of those kids,” said Yanisch, who had 6 assists. “It was kind of funny hearing them calling my name from the stands.”
Weemer applauded his team as Vozza took a timeout, and Metea, which got 12 points from Raysean Parker, never came closer than six points.
“We couldn't get that big steal and execution,” Vozza said. “Give them credit.”