(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team opened play in the 2024 Region 4 Division II District A Tournament with a somewhat pedestrian 99-80 victory over 12th seeded Olive-Harvey College (11-19) from Chicago. The fifth-seeded Chiefs (27-4), co-champions of the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference with McHenry County College, will play the Scots (23-8) again this coming Sunday, March 3 in a semi-final match-up. The Chiefs and Scots, who downed 13th seeded Carl Sandburg College just 80-71, will tipoff at Rock Valley College in Rockford starting at 2:00 p.m. It will be the third meeting between the teams this season with McHenry winning both prior games. The winner will advance to the title game, which is set for Saturday, March 9, at noon in Rockford.
After the Chiefs won the opening tip Dylan Fuzak quickly drained a three-pointer from the right corner to get things started. Duane Doss, Fernando Perez and David Robinson each scored transition baskets as Waubonsee bolted out to a quick 9-0 lead two minutes into the contest. It was two full minutes later before the Panthers finally got on the board. The Chiefs held a commanding 14-2 lead after five minutes of play and continued to disrupt the Panthers' offense.
At the midway point of the first half Waubonsee still held a double-digit lead at 23-13. Olive-Harvey got the deficit down to seven points before Waubonsee pushed it back up to 13. An intense segment of play with the Chiefs moving the ball quickly and grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds ended with Robinson converting a stellar reverse lay-up in traffic with three minutes to go until the break. A baseline drive and reverse lay-in by Doss put the Chiefs in front 44-29 with a minute to go before they took a 46-31 lead into the locker room, hitting their season average for first half points.
Waubonsee started the second half with three quick baskets to jump ahead 52-31. Olive-Harvey trimmed the Chiefs lead down to 11 when Alandre Murphy connected on a three-pointer a couple minutes later. At times Waubonsee had great ball movement on the offensive end as they worked to spread the wealth. A steal and breakaway left-handed tomahawk slam by Donovan Taylor was quickly followed up by a two-handed power jam by Robinson to push the lead back to 66-50 eight minutes into the second half. A lay-up in traffic by Aboubacar Sidibe extended the Chiefs' lead to 19 points halfway through the period. The Panthers battled back to within 11 points again with six minutes remaining, but Waubonsee had an answer each time. A drive and finger roll lay-in by Doss in traffic put the Chiefs up 88-73 with four minutes to go. A trey by Robinson from the right corner with a minute and half to go then iced the outcome.
Robinson led all scorers with 23 points, making 10 of 12 shots from the floor. Doss nearly booked a triple double as he tallied 19 points, handed out 14 assists and grabbed nine rebounds. Taylor chipped in with 16 points and hauled down eight boards, while Perez contributed 14 points, snagged eight rebounds and dished out six assists. Donovan Brown gave Waubonsee a fifth player in double figures as he hit a trio of three-point baskets on the way to scoring 13 points to go along with six assists. As a team the Chiefs compiled 33 assists and out rebounded the Panthers 44-29 for the game.