Van Buren, Pekin keep rolling

NEW LONDON ? Three players scored in double digits as Van Buren picked up its sixth win overall and in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division Tuesday night with a 77-34 trouncing of New London.

Van Buren?s Kassie Myers led the team in scoring with 23 points to go along with 13 rebounds and Makenzie Zeitler followed up with 17 points, including a 6-of-6 performance from the free-throw line. Jessica Saunders added 16 points in the win.

Van Buren (6-0, 6-0 SEISC south) cruised into halftime with a 38-20 lead, something New London (0-5, 0-5) coach Duane Blint felt showed improvement over his team?s loss at West Burlington last week.

?Obviously 18 points is a lot at halftime but I really thought we did show some improvement over what we had shown against West Burlington,? said Blint. ?That?s all you can do right now. That [Van Buren] is the best team in the conference, they?ve beaten everybody in the conference so far.?

New London scored a mere four points in the third quarter and was on a scoring drought until Amber Jackson went two-for-two at the free throw-line with 5:14 left in the game, bringing the score to 61-24. Jackson added a layup and another free throw less than a minute later, nudging the score to 63-29.

New London dropped to 0-5 overall and in the SEISC South with the loss.

New London travels to Danville Friday with a girls?/boys? doubleheader starting at 6 p.m.

Pekin 55, Columubs 32

COLUMBUS JUNCTION ? Pekin held just a four point lead entering the second half at Columbus Tuesday night, but allowed just four points over the next 13 minutes to cruise past the Wildcats.

The Panthers (6-1, 5-1 SEISC north) turned a 24-20 advantage into a 53-24 lead at its peak with the big second half on their way to the 55-32 victory.

The win is Pekin?s fourth-straight and keeps it atop the SEISC north division standings.

Jessi Martin was once again on the mark from downtown as she hit 3-of-6 from behind the arc en route to a game-high 21 points. Emily Ellis added 11 points and Dominique Tolle hit connected twice from deep as part of her 10 points. Brandy Millikin cleaned the glass with seven rebounds.

Columbus (2-5, 1-5) was led by Heaven Chandler with 10 points.

Next up for Pekin will be a trip to Mediapolis Friday night.