“Yes, Chef!”
Junior forward Moses Wilson and his best buds — senior forward Treshawn Blissett and junior point guard Tyreek Coleman — sparked Waubonsie Valley’s defense like the kitchen crew hierarchy at a high-end restaurant.
And they’re still cooking.
Head chef, second-in-command sous chef or chef de partie, heading up a particular area?
The members of this trio are interchangeable on any given night, and the 6-foot-4 Wilson stepped into the lead role Friday for the Warriors in a DuPage Valley rematch at district rival Metea Valley.
“Moses’ length creates a lot of problems for teams,” Waubonsie coach Andrew Schweitzer said. “When he really locks in like he did there in the fourth quarter, he moves his feet and he’s just tough.”
In a seesaw second half that featured just one lead of as many as four points, Wilson came up with three key steals in the final three minutes and made a 3-pointer with 1:02 left to give his team the lead for good in a 48-45 victory.
The 6-2 Coleman led all scorers with 21 points and had a team-high seven rebounds for Waubonsie (21-0, 7-0). The 6-5 Blissett scored 10 points to match Wilson.
Will Ashford tallied 17 points and six rebounds for the upset-minded Mustangs (16-8, 3-4).
It came in front of a large, rowdy crowd. Holding a 41-38 lead on Ashford’s dunk with 5:27 left, Metea’s student section turned up the “Overrated” chant during the subsequent timeout.
The mention brought a smile to Coleman’s face.
“Obviously, we’ve got a target on our back as one of the last undefeated teams in the state,” Coleman said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best game.
“We know that so we have to come out strong every night, as if we’re playing a (highly ranked) Normal or somebody like that.”
Wilson’s clutch 3-pointer matched one he had at home in the teams’ first matchup on Dec. 9 — a 52-39 win for the Warriors that was a much closer game than the final score indicates, according to Schweitzer.
“I just caught it and released it,” Wilson said of the pass from teammate Matthew Sessom. “I knew it was going in. We all play for these big moments.”
He couldn’t remember it was Sessom who threw the pass but “I know it had too much mustard on it.”
Yes, Chef!
Wilson, Blissett and Coleman inspire each other on defense.
“We try to outdo each other, simple as that,” Wilson said. “We keep fighting and make it a competition with each other in the games, trying to get the most steals.”
Coleman said Wilson and Blissett are the front-runners on the team’s defensive charts that keep track of deflections, steals and tips.
“‘Tre’ was ahead, I think, but ‘Mo’ might have him after this game,” Coleman said of Wilson. “He went crazy tonight.”
Metea Valley coach Isaiah Davis said his team had its chances.
“We got some open shots we didn’t hit at times where we could have stretched out the lead a little bit,” Davis said.
Sophomore guard Tre Watkins came off the bench and scored nine points for the Mustangs, who also got eight points apiece from junior forward Jake Nosek and senior guard Alex Danehl.
“I think we outplayed them in between the lines but our baseline out-of-bounds decisions, turning the ball over like we did a couple times under the basket, hurt us,” Davis said. “We just didn’t execute down the stretch.”
Schweitzer knows from personal experience his defense can do that.
“Every once in a while I’ll jump into practice,” Schweitzer said. “It’s one thing to see how their length affects teams, but when I’m trying to make passes and I’m not very good, it’s a whole different animal. It really is.”
