Waubonsie gets back on track with win at East Aurora
By Rick Armstrong rarmstrong@stmedianetwork.com December 13, 2012 9:50PM
East Aurora's Fred Reynolds attempts to drive past three Waubonsie defenders. | Mike Mantucca ~ For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 15, 2013 11:37AM
With two struggling teams meeting Thursday night at East Aurora, somebody had to get well.
“A win is a win, especially a road win,” Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer said with a sigh of relief after his team broke from a slow start with a strong second quarter and rolled to a 66-40 Upstate Eight Valley victory.
Senior guard Jared Brownridge and 6-foot-7 senior forward Bryan Jefferson led the Warriors with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Waubonsie Valley climbs to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.
“I thought we came out with great intensity, but they turned up the pressure defensively in the second quarter and we didn’t shoot well,” said East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries, whose team falls to 1-8 overall and 0-4 in the league.
Jonathan Villezcas, a 6-5 junior forward who has had to move to the post since two potential frontcourt starters decided not to come out for basketball, started on fire, dropping in four first-quarter baskets. The last one gave East a 14-13 lead and the Tomcats led 16-15 on a Peetie Davis bucket with 2:00 remaining in the period.
Then, the roof fell in on East, which was outscored 5-0 over the remainder of the quarter and then made just 1-of-14 shots in the second quarter when Waubonsie Valley claimed an 11-3 advantage to take a 31-19 lead at the break.
“Once we settled in and our defensive intensity picked up we were fine, holding them to three points in that quarter,” said Weemer, who shuffled his lineup and got eight points and seven rebounds off the bench from 6-7 junior Jack Cordes and nine points off the bench from Jay DeHaan.
Senior point guard Gary Sutton, who normally starts, came off the bench and didn’t score a point but dished out four assists. Jefferson led the Warriors with eight rebounds and Brownridge added seven.
“Obviously, we came out slow tonight again,” said Weemer. “I told the kids we played hard for about 24 minutes. Now on Saturday (against district rival Metea Valley) we’ve gotta play 30 to 32 minutes to have a chance.”
Waubonsie Valley came out of the break with a 9-0 run to open the third quarter, seven of them coming from Brownridge who sliced through the East Aurora defense at will to build the margin to 40-19, allowing the visitors to coast.
Villezcas finished with a team-high 12 points. Tomcats’ senior guard DeJon Talbert, who averages 12 points, was limited to four and struggled from the field, making just 1-of-12 field goal attempts.
“He’s been struggling, hopefully he’ll break out of it,” Jeffries said of his all-conference guard.
“Jefferson has a nice in and out game for them. I think Villezcas just got a little tired at the defensive end going against him.”
