Undefeated in January is a rare feat and Waubonsie Valley junior Tyreek Coleman is enjoying every minute.
“We are buzzing right now,” Coleman said. “We have a squad.”
The Warriors fended off their latest challenge on Friday, beating DuPage Valley rival Neuqua Valley 56-50 in Aurora.
It was a matchup between two red-hot teams that both won their holiday tournaments. Waubonsie took the title at Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic and the Wildcats won the Wheeling Hardwood Classic.
“This group is special, we are all super close,” Waubonsie Valley senior Tre Blissett said. “Beating Neuqua is always big.”
Coleman led with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Blissett added 14 points and Ryan Morton scored nine for the No. 14 Warriors (14-0, 4-0)
The No. 16 Wildcats (13-4, 3-1) dominated the second quarter and led 32-23 at halftime.
“We did make an adjustment at halftime,” Waubonsie Valley coach Andrew Schweitzer said. “It allowed us to be a little more aggressive. Credit to the kids, they executed. It wasn’t even something we had practiced. But I couldn’t watch what I was watching in the first half anymore. You to change something.”
The Warriors outscored Neuqua 19-8 in the third quarter to build a two-point lead and then took control by holding the Wildcats scoreless for three minutes of the fourth quarter. Waubonsie Valley shot 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
“We knew we had to stop them from getting open looks,” Coleman said. “They were definitely very smart about not putting the ball on the ground. We are usually able to get a lot ofturnovers but they moved the ball well and took care of it.”
Nathan Fiore led Neuqua Valley with 15 points off the bench and senior Joe Balgro added 11. Luke Kinkade, the Wildcats’ star senior, was held to just five points.
“Neuqua is very good,” Schweitzer said. “Kinkade is very rarely going to have a shooting night like that. I know [in the next matchup] we had better be ready for a whole different Luke Kinkade.”
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility for Waubonsie Valley to complete an undefeated regular season. Several tough conference matchups are remaining on the schedule and major nonconference tests against Bolingbrook and West Aurora, but the Wildcats won’t be overmatched in any of those games.
“We don’t really talk about undefeated,” Schweitzer said. “I love for them to get publicity, that’s awesome. But what is important to us is improving our team chemistry and our culture.”
