As Waubonsie Valley’s only senior, Hannah Laub realizes that her young teammates look to her when there’s adversity.
So, with the Warriors facing a tie game going into the fourth quarter Thursday night at Oswego East, the 6-foot combo guard innately understood what to do.
“We knew we had to get the energy going,” Laub said afterward. “They play off of energy a lot, and they’re a good team. We couldn’t give them that energy.
“We had to take the energy back and get it started for us.”
Laub did just that, fueling a quick burst that gave the Warriors the separation they would need in a 64-54 nonconference win over the host Wolves.
To start the quarter, Laub stole the ball and fed Danyella Mporokoso for a layup and a free throw. On the next possession, Laub had another steal, taking it the distance herself.
Mporokoso led Waubonsie (13-1) with 23 points. Laub added 20 points, five steals and three assists, while Maya Cobb chipped in with 13 points.
Oswego East (7-6) was paced by 21 points from Maggie Lewandowski. Aubrey Lamberti had 13 points and Desiree Merritt tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Waubonsie coach Brett Love knows he doesn’t have a player on his roster with more experience than Laub, who’s in her fourth varsity season, so he wasn’t surprised she provided the spark.
“It was big for her to step up, but that’s something she’s always done,” Love said. “She’s done that in AAU season — does it in practice every single day.”
Part of what Laub provided was handling the duties at point guard, something that’s not usually in her job description.
With Oswego East applying extra defensive attention on Mporokoso, Laub took over that role for most of the game.
“It’s different for her to step into that point guard role and bring the ball up and make those decisions and passes and things like that,” Love said. “But she sees it. I’ll bet she felt comfortable, but at the same time, it’s just a little different.
“They were face guarding Danyella, so instead of fighting against it, we just had Hannah bring the ball up.”
Oswego East lost 81-49 to Waubonsie in the season opener. The Wolves, however, had Thursday’s game tied 46-46 going into the fourth.
Lewandowski scored 12 points in the first quarter and Lamberti added eight in the second as the Wolves kept the game close.
“Overall, I’m proud of the girls,” Oswego East coach Abe Carretto said. “We held them to less points. We played a lot better defense this time and we scored more. We can learn from it.
“I thought it was a good three quarters of basketball for us.”
Laub continued her strong start to the fourth, extending the lead to 56-50 on a 3-pointer and two free throws. Mporokoso took it from there, scoring the Warriors’ final eight points.
“Danyella, everybody hears her name and they front her almost the whole game,” Laub said. “The nice thing is we have people that can step up.
“A couple of years ago, when I was younger, it was hard when there weren’t many people that could step up. This year, everybody has been stepping up.”
Coming into the season, Laub ran with being the senior leader by taking it upon herself to get the team together.
As Waubonsie heads into the Bill Neibch Holiday Classic at Wheaton North, she’s pleased with how things have developed.
“I never feel like I’m the only senior,” Laub said. “We’re all so close. You never would know that we had never met each other before the season.
“That’s one thing we did really well. We learned to play together. I think that’s showing on the court now.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.