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Waubonsie Valley's Berkompas hits her shots to beat Schaumburg

Let's play a game of, Would you rather ...?

If you're a high school basketball coach, would you rather have a player who's really on from 3-point land, or one who is locked in at the free-throw line?

It depends, you say? Well, try asking that question to Waubonsie Valley girls basketball coach Brett Love.

He'll take the latter, at least Monday evening in the first round of the Wheaton North Bill Neibch Falcon Girls Basketball Classic. He could only watch as Schaumburg senior guard Talia Torosian connected on seven 3-point shots for a game-high 23 points.

But when the end came, Warriors guard Mykah Berkompas hit 6 of 7 free throws in the last 3:20 to seal a tight 38-35 victory.

Berkompas scored all 6 of Waubonsie Valley's points in the contest, interrupted only by - you guessed it - a 3 from Torosian with two minutes to go.

Schaumburg (5-8) had an opportunity to send the game into overtime by scooping up a loose ball in front of the Waubonsie Valley bench with 8.5 seconds to go. But a 3-point attempt from senior guard Katie Smith as time expired fell just short.

"We don't always face a shooter that shoots like that and makes you pay for making a reach or risking a double-team or something like that," Love said. "We never gave up and stayed in it, we stayed poised and were under control and fought back to win."

And what of Berkompas, who averages 10.3 points a game and finished with a team-high 14 points?

"She did a great job of calming herself down at the free-throw line and that made the difference," Love said.

Berkompas can shoot the 3, too. She hit two Monday, the first of which gave Waubonsie Valley (6-5) a 9-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter. That was broken by a pair of 3s by Torosian, however.

Berkompas connected again from deep with nine seconds left in the third quarter to give the Warriors a 30-27 lead - which was promptly equaled by Torosian.

But she switched her M.O. in the final 3:20 by going 6 for 7 from the line, including two pairs at 54.9 and 25.3 seconds left, which set the final score.

"I practice free throws like no other, because I know when it comes down to it, free throws are the easiest shot in the game," she said. "I mean, they're free, so you've got to make them. I stayed composed because I knew the game was on the line."

On the flip side Torosian enjoyed her best shooting game this season so far, and knew coming in it was likely to be decent.

"We were shooting before the game at school, and it just felt good coming off my hand," she said. "Then we were shooting before the game in the back gym and I kept feeling good."

While Torosian was sinking shot after shot, only three other players scored, and none scored more than 5.

"She's a pretty good shooter for us, but tonight she had a game," Schaumburg coach Jacqie Strauch said of Torosian. "The girls did a great job of finding her. When it came down to it, we had girls passing up their shot to find the hot shooter."

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