Girls Basketball: St Joseph’s Briya Wilborn too much for Plainfield East

Updated: November 23, 2011 9:09PM

St. Joseph senior guard Briya Wilborn admits she hasn’t always handled pressure situations well.

“That comes with time,” Wilborn said. “I’ve been playing for a long time and it takes a lot of practice to deal with everything. When I was younger I used to get all riled up, but now I just try to stay calm and make sure I can help my teammates in any way I can.”

Wilborn was a calming influence and did a little bit of everything Wednesday to help St. Joseph hold off Plainfield East 63-58 and capture the championship game of the Willowbrook Tournament for the second season in a row.

She scored a game-high 20 points and added six steals, five rebounds, three assists and a block.

St. Joseph and Plainfield East both finished with 4-1 records in the round-robin tournament, but the Chargers won the title based on their head-to-head win over the Bengals.

“It was our goal coming in to win the championship,” St. Joseph coach Jim Maley said. “We had one minor setback (a 56-54 loss to Walther Lutheran), but luckily the way things worked out, we had (the championship) in our own hands tonight and the girls did a good job. We reached our first goal.”

St. Joseph led 38-26 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter, but Plainfield East (4-2) staged an impressive comeback, pulling within 45-42 by the end of the quarter and scoring the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a 46-45 advantage.

That would be the Bengals last lead, however.

After the Plainfield East tied the score at 49-49, back-to-back baskets by Deja Horn (eight points, three steals, two rebounds) and Chanel Brown (13 points, seven rebounds) put the Chargers ahead for good at 53-49 and they lead by at least three points the rest of the way.

“We stay focused and we don’t freak out when a team comes back,” Wilborn said. “We just stay calm and make sure we keep our heads and do everything we’re supposed to do. I’m proud of my teammates. It means a lot to win the championship.”

Maley wasn’t surprised his team was able to hold off the Bengals.

“I have a lot of veterans,” Maley said. “I have four girls back that went to the super-sectional last year. We have a lot of people that have been in big games before. I think they showed it in the end.”

St. Joseph also got key contributions from Donna Koerber (15 points, nine rebounds, two steals) and Arriel Anderson (five points, five assists, four steals).

Plainfield East was led by freshman standout Faith Suggs (19 points, seven rebounds), Gabby Williams (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Dominique Hartsfield (11 points, six rebounds).

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