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West Chicago extends season past Waubonsie Valley

All the missed shots early and the offensive struggles for three quarters don't mean anything this time of year, as long as you advance.

That's the point West Chicago made after knocking off Waubonsie Valley 42-33 at the Class 4A regional at Lyons Township on Monday night. The 22-6 Wildcats made just 4 of 23 shots in the first half and trailed 14-12 after two quarters before pulling ahead 24-22 after three quarters. Clutch free throws and continued stout defense in the fourth quarter allowed No. 11 West Chicago to hold off the 22nd-seeded Warriors.

"You win and you keep going. That's how it works," said West Chicago forward Quinn Ricci, who finished with 10 points and 4 steals. "It was a defensive game definitely. Yeah, that was probably the lowest scoring game we've been in all year."

A young Waubonsie Valley squad played solid defense and senior Demetrius Ewing did his best to keep the underdogs in the contest throughout. Ewing scored 7 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and his short jumper early in the second quarter gave the Warriors their largest lead of the night at 13-6.

But West Chicago trailed just 14-12 at the half and took its first lead of the night when Peter Dolan made four straight free throws to turn an 18-16 deficit into a 20-18 lead with 3:13 left in the quarter. Warriors freshman Eric Cannon tied the game with a strong drive to the basket, and a Brian Phillips basket early in the fourth then had Waubonsie back on top 26-24. But the Wildcats finished strong from there to avoid the upset.

"Obviously, it's frustrating playing in a tight game like that, but this time of year it's all about wins," said Tai Bibbs, who paced West Chicago with 12 points and 7 rebounds. "That's the most important thing and we came out with the win."

Tai Bibbs followed up a miss by his brother Mikey with a tip-in to tie the score at 26 in the fourth quarter, then added 6 foul shots in the final quarter. Mikey Bibbs added 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to finish with 11 points.

"We'll just get after it tomorrow and practice hard," said Tai Bibbs, who believes a game played in the Lyons Township gym should help prepare for Wednesday's regional semifinal. "We'll have to be ready for York, but it helps us playing in this gym. We know the rims now so we have that advantage. We should be ready Wednesday for sure."

For Waubonsie Valley coach Chaz Taft, the game reflected some growth from his young team, but also some of the inconsistent play that limited the team to five wins.

"We've been struggling with that (scoring) all year long, not getting consecutive games with guys shooting well," he said. "Hopefully, in the off-season we get in the gym and want to be a gym rat. That's my challenge to these guys: Who wants to become a better shooter? Who wants to take it up a notch? West Chicago did a great job of knocking down free throws."

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