Curry, Laub lead Waubonsie Valley over Metea

Waubonsie Valley sophomore guard Hannah Laub stood out for many reasons on Thursday night.

Sure, she helped engineer a second-half comeback that led the Mustangs to a 63-53 win over Metea Valley in DuPage Valley Conference action. The left-hander was driving for baskets, hitting 3-pointers - via a swish or a big bounce - and finding teammates for baskets.

And most of her work came in the second half. She scored 20 points, hitting three 3-pointers.

But Laub also had a pair of eye-catching shoes, sporting the Space Jam LeBron 18s.

"Those are my Looney Tones shoes, so I've always watched Looney Tones," Laub said, laughing. "I just got them at the beginning of the season."

Laub helped revive the Warriors, scoring 15 points in the second half, including 10 in the final quarter.

"It was a close game and we knew we had to win this conference game, especially after coming off a loss to Naperville Central," Laub said. "I knew I wasn't hitting my shots, so I started going inside more and then went back out to the 3-point line and started hitting those. That's when everybody started getting more energy. We came out slow in the first half, and we talked at halftime that we knew we had to pick it up. We finished it well."

Junior guard Taylor Curry pumped in a team-high 21 points for the Warriors (7-2, 1-1) starting a 15-0 run with a basket late in the third quarter.

"It was a back and forth game, but we worked hard and we knew it was going to be a tough game," Curry said. "We came out in the second half and really pressured the ball. The first half our shots were falling, so we had to figure out new ways to score the ball. We did that."

The Mustangs struggled finding the basket in the first half, but stayed in the game behind a strong effort from Raina Penttila. She scored five straight points to start the second quarter to keep her team in the game.

Her strong start was critical because the Warriors suffered a third-quarter slump after building a 29-22 lead at halftime. The Warriors were held to 2 points in the first five-plus minutes, allowing the Mustangs to creep back into the game. Metea Valley roared back to gain control of the game with a 37-31 lead, aided by four different players contributing to a 12-0 run.

But Laub kick-started Waubonsie Valley's winning comeback, scoring on a strong layup. She added a runner off the glass to give the Warriors a 40-37 lead after three quarters. The Warriors' 15-0 run, helped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Curry and Laub to start the fourth quarter sparked the comeback win.

Waubonsie Valley coach Brett Love said his team's pressure defense in the second half turned the tide in the game.

"We struggled a bit to make shots, but I never thought we were out of the game," he said. "I knew our defense would help us out a bit. We just needed to get more composed and chose better shots."

Penttila capped a strong effort with a game-high 24 points and teammate Khaliah Reid added 13 points for the Mustangs (3-6, 0-2).

"Our game plan was to keep the energy up and keep passing the ball and locking down on a few players and stop them," Penttila said. "We were aggressive and tried to draw fouls. Overall, we just need to get our plays down and keep moving the ball and get our defense going and stay aggressive throughout the game. We have lulls throughout the game."