She’s back.
One month to the day into Hannah Laub’s comeback from knee surgery, the temptation is to say it’s just like old times for the Waubonsie Valley standout.
She’s not her old self yet, but the junior forward is getting close.
“It was a little scary at first, especially driving to the basket, since that’s how I got hurt,” Laub said of the left ACL injury she suffered last May while playing AAU basketball and softball for Waubonsie. “Once you start doing it, it gets more and more comfortable.
“Every game gets better and better.”
Laub looked right at home Monday night attacking the basket in the second half.
That’s when she scored all nine of her points for the Warriors in a 74-45 victory over ninth-seeded East Aurora in a Class 4A Naperville North Regional semifinal.
The win sends the sixth-seeded Warriors (22-7) to the 7 p.m. Thursday championship game against the second-seeded host Huskies (20-11), who beat Metea Valley 61-32.
Waubonsie and Naperville North split two DuPage Valley Conference games this season.
The 5-foot-11 Laub, meanwhile, returned to the court 17 games into the season on Jan. 13, only seven and a half months after surgery. She doesn’t wear a brace.
“My doctor said I didn’t have to,” Laub said. “I didn’t think I’d ever get over the mental part of it if I put one on. I have to play like I used to play. I felt like I needed to get in that mindset, so I went right for it.
“The doctor said it’s probably going to be a year until I’m fully back, but it’s going a lot quicker than I thought it would.”
Scoreless in the first half Monday, Laub contributed a pair of steals in the second quarter as Waubonsie took control with a 20-5 burst that erased a 10-9 deficit from the first quarter.
“We still don’t think Hannah is 100%,” Waubonsie coach Brett Love said. “She’s definitely helped us defensively and rebounding. Offensively, this is the most aggressive I’ve seen her play since coming back.”
Laub was one of several players who helped double-team senior guard Mia Moore, who still scored 25 points for East Aurora (22-9).
Moore scored 17 points earlier in the season during a 61-57 loss to Waubonsie.
“You have to commend Moore for all the work she’s put in to be the player she is and demand that type of attention,” Love said. “At practice, we kind of made it a team effort.
“We were mixing people up. We didn’t want to tire ourselves out. We know it’s a hard cover.”
Anastasia Bellamy, a 6-2 center who was defending Laub, got into foul trouble in the first half trying to help out on other shooters. It hurt the Tomcats.
“That changed the narrative of the game,” East Aurora coach Lee Clayborn said. “We had to play different.”
Freshman guard Danyella Mporokoso finished with 22 points for the Warriors, who also received 16 points apiece from senior guards Khaliah Reid and Taylor Curry.
Curry and Laub each averaged 15 points last season to lead Waubonsie. The emergence of Mporokoso and Reid, who transferred from Metea, has eased the scoring pressure on Laub.
“She’s crushing it,” Curry said of Laub, who’s averaging 6.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. “She’s still getting into the swing of things, but we’re glad to have her back. I think we have one powerful starting five.
“We just have to keep moving that ball around. That’s a big thing for us. We have shooters who can knock it down and people who can drive to the basket, but defense is big for us.”
Clayborn thinks Waubonsie matches up well with Naperville North.
“With (Mporokoso), who’s going to be something, Curry and Laub back, they have a lot of weapons,” Clayborn said. “Defensively, they throw so many looks at you.”