Don’t tell Waubonsie Valley coach Brett Love his team played well in its 50-36 win over Batavia on Tuesday in the Naperville Central Tip-Off Tournament.

As far as Love is concerned, the Warriors were not up to the high standards set by the sectional championship team from a season ago and the team that placed fourth in the state the season before that.

“I don’t think we played at the level that we should have today,” Love said. “It’s good to get wins. It’s good to come out here and kind of play together. We’ve got some people down. But I think our execution was down a little bit. I think that our shot selection was down a little bit, and our intensity on defense was down a little bit.”

Despite Love’s honest postgame critique, the Warriors (5-0) played well enough to hold a 16-3 lead after the first quarter and a 29-8 lead at halftime. That was thanks in no small part to Illinois State-bound Danyella Mporokoso, who scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first half.

“I know I have to score for my team,” Mporokoso said. “But I’m not having to feel pressure every second. I know it’s gonna come to me. I know my team’s gonna help me get shots.”

Maya Pereda joined Mporokoso as the only other player to score in every quarter. She had 12 points, half which came on two first-half 3-pointers. Elliana Morris had two 3s in the third quarter of an eight-point performance, and Arianna Garcia-Evans scored six off the bench.

Despite falling into an early hole that they never dug out of, the Bulldogs (0-3), a different iteration from the one that claimed four straight regional titles along with a sectional title over that span, never were out of the game mentally.

Improved play on both ends of the floor resulted in Batavia matching Waubonsie Valley’s 12 third-quarter points and outscoring it, 16-9, in the fourth.

“We didn’t play quite as scared offensively in the second half,” Bulldogs coach Kevin Jensen said. “We were able to get to the basket, get some open shots from the outside. But it’s all triggered by our effort defensively. When that’s high, then we’re in a much better place.”

Sammie Donahue and reserve Audrey Schwab tied for the Batavia scoring lead with nine points. While Donahue made one 3-pointer, Schwab scored all of her points on three 3s in the second half.

After being held scoreless through 24 minutes, Eva Holzl finished strong with six fourth-quarter points.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251125/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-waubonsie-valley-downs-batavia-but-theres-still-work-to-be-done/