Syncere Williams would have seemed the most unlikely hero in the latest edition of Waubonsie Valley’s playoff rivalry with Benet.

For starters, she had no history in it.

The Waubonsie Valley guard transferred from West Aurora before her junior season. But she tore her ACL last April, and wasn’t even cleared to play with her new team until January.

On a limits restriction at first, Williams made her first start in regionals.

So what did she think about playing Benet?

“It was great. I just wanted to win,” Wiliams said. “Whatever it takes.”

It, in part, took a gritty from the Warriors’ newest player.

Williams scored six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. She also played a key role in helping hold Benet scoreless for nearly the first seven minutes of the final quarter as Waubonsie Valley won 45-37 in Thursday’s Class 4A East Aurora Sectional final.

Waubonsie (32-3) beat Benet (27-5) for the third straight year in a sectional final to advance to play Nazareth Monday at Lyons.

The Warriors and Redwings were playing in a sectional final for the fourth straight year, and in the sixth straight postseason. Benet won the first three playoff meetings.

Waubonsie led for the entire first half, trailed 33-30 after three quarters, but then seized control with a 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter.

“I saw a lot of heart and a lot of pride,” Waubonsie coach Brett Love said. “One thing we talked about in this sectional is do whatever it takes.”

Illinois State commit Danyella Mporokoso scored 19 points and Aria Garcia-Evans 13 for Waubonsie. Furman commit Emma Briggs led Benet with 20.

Mporokoso, needing 49 points for 3,000 in her career, scored Waubonsie Valley’s first eight points during a 12-2 start.

But she had just one basket over the middle two quarters, and shot 6-for-19 for the game. She had two big baskets in crunch time, though.

Mporokoso followed a miss for the go-ahead score with 6:43 left, and had another stickback with 5:56 left to make it 37-33.

“You can’t have a good shooting game every game,” Mporokoso said. “I’m just trying to contribute anywhere I can.”

Benet, despite 4-for-30 shooting from the 3-point line for the game, only trailed 22-21 at the half, and took its first lead on a Briggs basket with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

Another Briggs’ score closed the third quarter with Benet ahead 33-30, its largest lead.

But the Redwings turned it over on their first three possessions of the fourth quarter, six total in the fourth, and missed several open perimeter looks.

“We struggled shooting the ball today from distance and they were able to kind of load up on Emma and Bridget [Rifenburg]. They were having a hard time getting looks,” Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. “If you’re not making them they don’t have to go out and guard them.”

Indeed Waubonsie, with just one starter taller than 5-foot-9, still managed to deny Benet many looks near the basket.

Williams, a 5-foot-5 guard, was switched on to guard the 6-foot Briggs throughout, and almost exclusively in the fourth quarter when Briggs did not score.

“Just go out and guard. People being bigger than me is nothing different, I’ve been smaller than people playing basketball my whole life,” Williams said. “I knew to keep her out of the paint, keep her on the arc. I had a better chance keeping her outside.”

Love likes his chances with Williams playing defense. Mporokoso started on Briggs, but Waubonsie’s coach trusts his junior guard.

“Syncere is one of the most elite defenders,” Love said. “She was out because of the ACL but if you watch our game against Naperville Central and games previously she is always guarding somebody, picking people’s pocket.”

Williams also played with confidence offensively late, nailing a jumper and aggressively scoring on two drives. She hardly looked like a kid who just came back in January.

“I always had a strong mindset, didn’t get down on myself,” Williams said. “I knew I would come back. It was something I wanted.”

Her contributions couldn’t have helped enough for a Waubonsie team that lost starting guard Maya Cobb to a torn ACL the fourth game of the season.

“It’s been huge for her to come on and kind of step in and step up,” Love said. “We knew what kind of player she was and what she could do. We wanted to get her along slowly enough so she was ready for these times.”

Ava Thomas had six points and seven rebounds and sophomore Lucy Tierney scored five while guarding Mporokoso.

“Honestly other than shooting the ball I thought we played a really good game and that happens,” Kilbride said. “It’s kind of a shame that three of the top seven teams in the state were in the same sectional. They battled, they gave us everything. Waubonsie was a little better.”