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Sports
Regional title out of reach : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisRegional title out of reach
| Waubonsie Valley uses fourth quarter spurt to run away from Oswego East
| by Matt Daniels
| 2/24/2011
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The Oswego East girls basketball fans rose to their feet.
Having watched their Wolves trail from the onset last Thursday against Waubonsie Valley in the Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional final, Oswego East had just rattled off a 7-0 run midway through the third quarter to cut its double-digit deficit to 33-24 after senior forward Ameera George scored on an offensive rebound putback.
George's bucket forced Waubonsie Valley to call a full timeout, and it seemed the game was about to turn, possibly in the Wolves favor.
"We didn't turn it," George said matter-of-factly.
Waubonsie Valley, however, did, taking control in the fourth quarter en route to a 51-30 win that denied Oswego East its first-ever regional title.
George's basket with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter brought the Wolves deficit under single digits for the first time since they trailed 18-10 with 5:19 left in the second quarter following two free throws from senior forward Kayla Boers (four points, four rebounds). The score remained at 33-24 to start the fourth quarter, but the Wolves inability to knock down a critical shot and keep the Warriors from getting solid looks inside led to a 12-0 run during the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter by Waubonsie Valley. By the time the Wolves (21-7) - who missed their first eight shots from the floor in the fourth quarter - scored their first point of the fourth quarter on a free throw from senior guard Brittney Glende (five points), Oswego East trailed 45-25 with 3:01 left.
"I think our kids, unfortunately, the air just came out of our balloon," Oswego East head coach Nate Eimer said. "We didn't have enough firepower there in the fourth quarter to keep battling without making shots. When it comes to this time of year and you're going on those runs, you've got to hit big shots, and unfortunately it didn't happen."
The Wolves finished 10-of-45 (22 percent) from the field, 3-of-11 (27 percent) from three-point range and 7-of-10 (70 percent) from the free throw line while committing 16 turnovers. The 30 points tied a season-low the Wolves scored during a 63-30 loss at Minooka on Dec. 7.
"They had really great defense and we tried our best to get swings and looks into the inside," Glende said. "We thought we had a chance and it was hard to just keep on scoring with their defense."
The Warriors (24-5) saw their season end on Tuesday when No. 3 Benet won 56-52 in a Romeoville Sectional semifinal game. The Redwings will now try to take down two-time defending 4A champion and top seed Bolingbrook at 7:30 tonight, Thursday, in the sectional final.
"I think we would have liked to have had a few more shots fall our way to see where we could have been, but it's still a tribute to this group that we're able to play now with some of the better teams in the state," Eimer said. "I know the score isn't going to show that, but it was a tight game up until about four minutes to go in the fourth quarter."
Waubonsie Valley controlled the rebounding edge 38-23, including a 15-9 advantage in terms of offensive rebounding. The Warriors had six baskets solely on offensive rebound putbacks on the night.
"Putting a body on them was hard," said George, who finished with four points and a team-high seven rebounds. "They had a height advantage and we've played against (teams with) height advantages before but I guess we just weren't in it mentally. We were kind of hesitant."
Three Waubonsie Valley players - senior guard Becky Williford, sophomore forward Gratia Brooks and junior guard Tami Morice - all finished in double figures for Waubonsie. Brooks had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Williford had 13 points - 11 in the second half - to go along with eight rebounds while Morice finished with 10 points. Junior forward Rachael Ross also had a strong game with seven points and nine rebounds in helping the Warriors take a 7-0 lead in the game's first 1:20 before leading 16-8 to start the second quarter.
"I think we knew coming in this had to be our best rebounding game," Eimer said. "I think that Waubonsie really stepped it up, from the games that I've seen them play. They are a phenomenal rebounding team. You could see it. We battled as hard as we've probably battled all year and we still had our hands full."
Williford helped key an 8-2 spurt by the Warriors to hand the Wolves a 33-17 deficit with 4:20 left in the third quarter, and then put an exclamation point on the game with her second three-pointer of the night with 4:47 left in the game that gave Waubonsie a 43-24 lead. Her play, more so than any other Waubonsie player, stood out to Eimer the most.
"She's a great basketball player," he said. "I scouted them about three times and I was impressed with her but I think live in action, she's a little bit even better. I thought Venita Parsons did an admirable job on her. I just think it's tough to contain her for four quarters, and I thought she was the difference, burying those three's and controlling the tempo of the game."
Parson, a freshman guard, finished with a team-best eight points for the Wolves while also grabbing five rebounds. Parsons' three-pointer, the second one of the game for her, at the top of the key with 3:45 left in the third quarter sparked the Wolves' 7-0 run.
Oswego East also had to deal with junior guard Arneasa Blair limited because of foul trouble. Blair finished with four points on the night and her playing time was sporadic after she picked up her third foul of the game with less than four minutes left in the first half.
"She's a game-changer," Eimer said. "She's still got another year and in these games, she's got to learn in these games to pick her spots with her fouls, but in terms of offensively, that's a huge part. She's been our point guard for three years and for her to sit for a while, it did affect us quite a bit, but give Waubonsie some credit. They would have done a great job defensively with her in there or not."
Waubonsie Valley shot 21-of-50 (42 percent) for the game, including 3-of-11 (27 percent) from the three-point line and overcoming a poor 6-of-15 (40 percent) showing from the foul line while making 14 turnovers. Despite the loss that ended the Wolves season short of a sectional appearance, George and Glende said reaching the regional final is a good step for the program.
"We had a good season," George said. "We played together as a team, more so than probably any other team that we've had at Oswego East. We're more like a family so yeah, this one did hurt, because now it's over."
Glende agreed.
"We worked hard every single day in practice," she said. "We worked as a team and we had great chemistry out on the floor. It just didn't end the way we wanted it to end."
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