Wolves pull out thrilling sweep

WINFIELD - There was a lot of nervous nail-biting going on in Winfield on Tuesday night. The Wolves played back-to-back barn burners against Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division rival Mediapolis. The 14th-ranked (1A) girls prevailed 68-62 in a heart-stopping double overtime game, and the boys grinded out a 35-32 victory.

The WMU girls wouldn't have gotten to the extra period if it weren't for an ultra-clutch shot by Keetyn Townsley. Trailing 55-52 with 10 seconds left in regulation, the Wolves pushed the ball up the court and the sophomore guard found herself with the ball on the wing as the buzzer was about to sound. She launched a contested 3-pointer that sank just before the horn to send the WMU bench into a frenzy.

'It wasn't even meant for me,” Townsley said. 'When they passed it to me, I knew I had to shoot it.”

In the first overtime, Mediapolis gave WMU a taste of its own medicine. Freshman Haley Steffener tied the game up right before the buzzer on a layup with under five seconds left, and the two teams went into double overtime.

Keely Malone kicked off the second overtime with a banked-in 3-pointer to give the Wolves a lead, and WMU never trailed again. Kyndal Townsley led the Wolves in overtime with three points in the first extra period and three more in the second.

'I just knew that we could pull threw,” she said after the thrilling win.

The Lady Wolves had to fight back from an early hole. Mediapolis set the nets on fire in the first quarter, and led 19-10 at the first break. The Bullettes had a 14-point lead in the second period but WMU ended the quarter on a 14-0 run to tie it at 28-28 before halftime. WMU would lead 40-39 after three periods.

'We didn't play very well tonight,” said Wolves head coach Mitch Wachs. 'Our decision making was just off, but luckily we ended that run to tie it.”

Kyndal Townsley led the Lady Wolves with 19 points. Jobey Malone had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Farrah Nelson scored 10 points. Bradie Buffington had nine. Keely Malone scored five. Jenna Buffington had four, and both Keetyn Townsley and Melina Oepping finished with three.

The boys game threatened to go into overtime as well. The two teams stayed neck-and-neck all game long, with WMU leading 11-7 after one period but trailing 21-19 at half and 29-28 entering the final quarter.

The WMU defense held Mediapolis to just three points in the final eight minutes. The offense did just enough, with four players scoring a combined seven points.

Cam Buffington gave the Wolves the last lead of the game when he hit one of two free throw attempts with just over one minute to go. That made it 33-32 WMU, and Abram Edwards added a pair of free throws to push the lead to three points in the final minute.

Mediapolis nearly tied the game at the buzzer, but the last-second long ball rimmed out.

'Defensively, we limited them to some tough shots,” said WMU boys head coach Klay Edwards. 'I thought Bryce Wade guarded their big guy pretty well, and did a good job of limiting his touches.”

Edwards added that his team missed a lot of easy shots, crediting Mediapolis for stepping up on defense as well.

Buffington ended the game with a team-high 13 points. Edwards had 11. Wade had five. Jacob Kongable finished with four, and Brady Loyd had two.

The WMU girls are now 7-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The boys are 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the North Division. Both teams play at Wapello on Friday.