Waubonsie Valley rolls over South Elgin
Now that the holidays have passed, the Waubonsie Valley boys basketball team is looking to start a streak and gain momentum heading into the postseason.
The Warriors won their second game of the week Saturday night, dominating host South Elgin, 60-32, in Upstate Eight Valley Division play.
“We’re playing much better right now,” Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer said. “We’ve got to continue building toward regionals right now. That’s kind of the goal of every team I think.”
Waubonsie (12-6, 4-3) defeated Naperville Central on Wednesday and Saturday’s game marked the start of the second time through the conference teams. The Warriors went 3-3 against UEC Valley opponents the first time around.
“It’s definitely important to get started with a big win,” said Waubonsie senior Jared Brownridge, who finished with a game-high 18 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter. “Even that nonconference game got us a boost in confidence to come into conference play for the second round. I think by starting off well will help us finish of the second part of the season very well.”
Waubonsie never trailed against the Storm (5-13, 0-7) and the game was tied only once, at 2-2. Bryan Jefferson scored 8 points in the first quarter as the Warriors led 18-6 after the quarter. Brownridge added 8 and Jefferson had another 6 in the second quarter. Waubonsie led 39-15 at halftime.
The Storm had 14 first-half turnovers and was 6-for-16 from the floor in the half.
“We just can’t turn the ball over,” South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. “They were trapping a little bit on the ball screens. We were practicing against that all week because we know how they guard that stuff.”
South Elgin played without leading scorer Darius Wells. Wells missed several weeks earlier in the season with a foot injury before returning at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament. The junior injured the same foot during the tournament and has not practiced since then. Taft said the injury is to the bottom of the foot, whereas the original injury was to the top of the foot. Taft said Wells will have an MRI on Monday.
Matt McClure led the Storm with 10 points. Ryne Lundy added 8 points.
Jefferson finished with 14 points for the Warriors. Dylan Warden added 9 points off the bench.