Latest news with #BolingbrookSectional
Chicago Tribune
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Waubonsie Valley's Maya Pereda regains confidence at critical time. She delivers ‘when we need her' vs. Benet.
Sophomore guard Maya Pereda was feeling a little low after Waubonsie Valley's game on Tuesday. Pereda had attempted just two shots and went scoreless against Bolingbrook in the Class 4A sectional semifinals. 'She had some confidence issues,' Waubonsie Valley coach Brett Love said. 'She don't like when she's not doing things the right way. 'I just told her that she's got to let the game come to her, don't worry about the mistakes. She is one of our X factors. When she gets it going, she can make big shots and contribute in other areas.' Love was confident Pereda would bounce back. So, too, was star junior guard Danyella Mporokoso. 'Last night, I texted her,' Mporokoso said. 'I said I know she's going to show up when we need her.' The encouragement buoyed Pereda's spirits. 'After the game, I asked my coach, 'What can I be doing better?'' Pereda said. 'He just straight up told me it's a confidence issue. If I'm not scoring, focus on the defensive end and get stops. 'Danyella has so much confidence in me, and it helps me so much to be a better player. My team, they believe in me as much as I believe in myself, and it's great just to have that team support.' The 5-foot-7 Pereda played a great supporting role on Thursday. She scored a career-high 12 points, including two tie-breaking baskets in the fourth quarter, and added four rebounds and three assists as the second-seeded Warriors edged the top-seeded Benet 66-61 to win the Bolingbrook Sectional title. 'She was a big part of it,' Mporokoso said. 'She stepped up when we needed it and hit some important shots — and then also some important passes too.' Mporokoso led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds for Waubonsie Valley (31-1), which advances to play Alton (32-2) in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional in Bloomington at 7 p.m. Monday. Junior guard Arie Garcia-Evans had 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, and junior guard Maya Cobb added 12 points. The Warriors needed every bit of that production because Benet (29-3) roared back from a 23-6 deficit behind junior guard Bridget Rifenburg, who scored 13 of her team-high 16 points in the second half, including a pair of game-tying layups. But Pereda answered both times, hitting a jumper to break a 48-48 tie and then taking a kick-out from Mporokoso and knocking down a 3-pointer for a 53-50 lead with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter. 'I was just hoping I would get my shot off and straighten up,' Pereda said. 'I was relaxing because I knew there were still parts of the game left. 'We work a lot on making that shot possible, get a nice rhythm, and I just decided to take it. It went in.' As Mporokoso felt it would. 'Oh, yeah,' Mporokoso said. 'I felt that come off. I'm like, 'That's a good pass,' and I know she can hit it.' That's not all Pereda did. With the Warriors up 55-52, Pereda drew a charging foul on Rifenburg, who seconds later fouled out with 1:26 left. Mporokoso then hit two free throws. 'She was standing in the right place at the right time,' Love said of Pereda. 'We always talk about helping early, stepping up in the gaps, and she took a chance and was able to get it.' Pereda was floored but bounced up quickly. 'It didn't hurt that bad,' she said. 'That was a great adrenaline rush. To get that charge felt great, and at that point, the momentum shifted, and it was just straight on for us.' Pereda was also in the right spot when she rebounded Benet senior guard Aria Mazza 's missed 3-point try that would have tied the game with 8.9 seconds left. Mporokoso then made two free throws to clinch it as Waubonsie Valley beat the Redwings in the sectional final for the second straight season. 'I told them I'm disappointed for them, I'm not disappointed in them,' Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. 'They fought and really battled to get back in the game and give themselves a chance. 'It stings. They've been working for a year to get back here, and I liked our chances.' But Mporokoso liked the Warriors' chances, too, and knew Pereda would be ready to help in any way possible. 'She brings a lot of IQ,' Mporokoso said. 'She watches so much film. She really learns the game, and then she shares that with everyone. If she sees something, she tells everyone else, and we get to learn from her.'
Chicago Tribune
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Waubonsie Valley's Arie Garcia-Evans ‘took it personal.' Pushed around on her birthday, she strikes back.
Arie Garcia-Evans and her Waubonsie Valley teammates were on the ropes after absorbing more than a few literal body blows against Bolingbrook in the Class 4A sectional semifinals on Tuesday. But the junior guard made sure the Warriors, who reached the state semifinals last year, were not counted out on her 17th birthday. Garcia-Evans got into a scrap after diving on the floor for a loose ball early, and it lit a fire under her. 'I think it helped motivate me,' she said. 'I got heavy in my energy after the half.' Indeed, Garcia-Evans scored 14 of her 15 points in the second half and also had seven steals and six rebounds as the second-seeded Warriors rallied back from a 14-point deficit to beat the third-seeded host Raiders 57-44. Junior guard Danyella Mporokoso, who scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half and had a team-high 13 rebounds, was thrilled that Garcia-Evans could deliver for Waubonsie Valley (30-1), which advances to play top-seeded Benet (29-2) in the Bolingbrook Sectional championship game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. 'We couldn't have done it without her — the energy she brings, all the juice she's got,' Mporokoso said. 'She played such a huge role. Defensively, we really needed her.' Bolingbrook (20-12) ran roughshod in the first half, using their physical play and accurate shooting to take an early 18-4 lead. The Warriors absorbed the initial surge but trailed 32-18 early in the third quarter, and Garcia-Evans was still seething about the early confrontation. 'She took it personal,' Waubonsie Valley coach Brett Love said. 'She asked me, 'Are we up pressuring?' I asked her, 'Do you want to get up?' She said 'yes,' so we let her get up and pressure the ball. Everybody else stayed back and kind of cut off passing lanes, and she went to work.' That began paying dividends for the Warriors midway through the third quarter. The Raiders led 36-24 when Garcia-Evans made a steal and a layup to start an incredible 21-4 run in which she had 12 points and three steals. 'It felt good,' she said. 'Coming out of the halftime, we knew we needed to pick it up because we were down. I didn't want to go home. None of us wanted to go home, so we picked it up, and it felt good.' Mporokoso's driving layup capped the huge run that gave the Warriors a 45-40 lead. Bolingbrook answered with a basket, but Waubonsie Valley senior forward Lily Newton hit a 3-pointer, and then Garcia-Evans got a rebound and went coast to coast for a layup Thirty seconds later, Garcia-Evans was knocked to the ground after grabbing a rebound. That led to Mporokoso's pull-up jumper that made it 52-43 with 2:21 remaining. 'Defense, I would say, was the main thing to get my ignition going,' Garcia-Evans said. 'That helped a lot.' Garcia-Evans' help was what the Warriors needed to extend their winning streak to 20 games. 'I don't know what we would do without her,' Mporokoso said. 'She did amazing. I'm just so happy we turned it around.' Waubonsie Valley did it with a team effort. Junior guard Maya Cobb had 10 points and four steals, and Newton added six points, four rebounds and two assists. 'We just realized how much this means to us, how much going to state means to us, so at halftime we just wanted it more, and we came out and showed that,' Garcia-Evans said. 'We've all played with each other for a couple years, so that helps, and we have older people on the team that can help calm us down when we need it and get us to where we need to go.' Garcia-Evans knew exactly where she was going next after her teammates serenaded her with a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' during the postgame celebration. 'I'm going to go out to eat and spend time with my family,' she said. 'I haven't been home all day.'
Chicago Tribune
19-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville North's Natalie Frempong pulls out all the stops in the regional semifinals
Junior guard Natalie Frempong, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this season, didn't slow down in Naperville North's playoff opener. Frempong tallied 31 points on Monday as the ninth-seeded Huskies topped eighth-seeded Oswego East 67-62 in the Class 4A Benet Regional semifinals. Senior guard Anna Richards added 20 points for Naperville North (17-4), which advances to play top-seeded Benet (27-2) in the regional championship game at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Redwings routed 17th-seeded Plainfield East 70-22 on Monday. The winner will go to the Bolingbrook Sectional semifinals. Second-seeded Waubonsie Valley also won in the regional semifinals on Monday. The Warriors (28-1) crushed 14th-seeded Plainfield South 88-32 and will play seventh-seeded West Aurora (21-4) in the regional final on their home court at 7 p.m. Thursday. In the Metea Valley Regional semifinals on Tuesday, the 15th-seeded host Mustangs lost 53-35 to third-seeded Bolingbrook, and 11th-seeded Naperville Central lost 61-42 to sixth-seeded Yorkville. In the Plainfield North Regional semifinals on Tuesday, 13th-seeded Neuqua Valley lost 49-25 to fourth-seeded Downers Grove North. Originally Published:
