WACO girls win the Warrior showdown

WAYLAND — The WACO girls were able to halt a Van Buren County second half comeback in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference South matchup Tuesday night, 45-37.

Twenty-eight points from WACO’s Ellah Kissell were enough to hold off the Warriors of Van Buren.

WACO dominated on the offensive glass, but they were not able to capitalize on a lot of second chance opportunities. Van Buren made the most of it. WACO head coach Lisa Graber says offensive rebounding has been a focus.

“That’s something that has been a big focus for us, because if were not shooting high percentages, we can’t be allowing other teams to do that,” Graber said. “Hopefully as the season goes, especially on the offensive end we start softening up our putbacks. We sometimes get a lot of boards because we miss two or three in a row.”

Both teams were neck-and-neck to begin the contest, with each finishing with 11 points at the quarter’s end.

In the second, WACO begin to find their rhythm, scoring seven unanswered to start the quarter, giving them a 18-11 lead.

Despite an abundance of offensive boards by WACO, Van Buren County was able to cut the margin heading into the locker room thanks to six points from Zoe Best, who scored all of Van Buren’s points in the quarter.

WACO went into locker room with a 22-17 lead.

In the third, WACO showed signs that they would pull away, extending their lead to as much as 10 points, but Van Buren answered.

A 14-2 run through the last half of the third quarter brought Van Buren back, tying the game at 31 all. Then Ellah Kissel happened.

Kissel hit a three paired with a running shot at the buzzer to put WACO back on top 36-31. It would be the closest Van Buren would come.

“Ellah can create things for herself and get open, and a lot of that comes from hustling on the defensive end like creating steals,” Graber said. “That takes the pressure off of us offensively if our defense can create those chances.

In the fourth, WACO began with a 6-0 run, ultimately being enough to pick up the win. WACO outscored Van Buren 9-6 in the fourth.

“Rebounds and turnovers were the difference in the game,” Van Buren County head coach Marley Hall said. “Our turnovers have gotten significantly better, but they’re still hurting us at significant times. Overall, we are absolutely moving in the right direction, and we got to take the good with the bad. They worked their butts off tonight.”

Following Kissell in scoring, Grace Coble added eight points. Katie Leichty finished with three. Emma Wagler, Avery Waterhouse and Breonna Gentry all had two points.

For Van Buren County, Kadence Nusbaum had 11 points. Zoe Best and Shea Scott each finished with nine. Annabelle Cormier scored six. Sydney Meierotto chipped in two.

WACO moves to 5-2 with the win, while Van Buren County drops to 1-6.

Comments: hunter.moeller@southeastiowaunion.com