Girls? Postseason prep: WACO, IMS, Keota

The postseason officially begins on Thursday, and two of the hottest area teams will be in action to kick thing off.

The WACO girls? basketball team (14-7) will open up its postseason at home against Tri-County (2-19).

The Warriors ended the year winning six of its last seven games, a stretch that started after they lost on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Highland on the road.

?After the loss at Highland, from that point on, I told them in the locker room, that one of two things was going to happen,? WACO head coach Shannon Rugg said. ?Either we are going to have a hangover or play well. We came out that next night and just played lights out in the first half. From that point on it?s just carried over.?

The only loss during that stretch was a loss to Pekin, who finished in second place in the conference.

Stepping up as of late for the Warriors is senior forward Ericka Liechty, who has averaged 12.7 points per game over the seven-game stretch.

Liechty?s success started during a span when leading scorer Aaliyah Brown was injured, but now with Brown back and healthy, things are looking up for the Warriors.

?I think in the last couple of weeks (Ericka has) come on strong and they all have, but with Aaliyah being gone, she really stepped up and became a force inside,? Rugg said. ?People have started to take notice of that, and hopefully that will take some pressure off of Aaliyah too.?

If WACO can get past Tri-County, they will set up a date with the winner of Thursday?s Keota-IMS game.

Keota is another team that has been hot down the stretch, winning three of its last four, including a big win against 16-5 Engish Valleys.

With the latest stretch, it?s easy  for the 11-10 Eagles to have confidence, but Keota head coach Jenny Hobbs said she thinks this team knows what they can do.

?I think (our confidence) is pretty high,? Hobbs said. ?When we look at our opponents, we feel like we can play with anybody. We struggled a little bit since Christmas, but we?ve played everyone really pretty tough. I think even if we struggled at the end of the season, we?d still have high confidence.?

Of the seven players who have played in at least 20 of the 21 games for the Eagles, six are seniors, and Hobbs said that they certainly don?t want their season to end.

?That?s very important,? Hobbs said. ?Whenever you are seniors, you don?t want it to be over. I think they?ve taken that stance all year.?

Standing in the way of the Eagles is a home tournament game against Iowa Mennonite, who went 4-17 on the season.

IMS head coach Aaron Gingerich said the team is ready to forget about their record and start anew on Thursday.

?The team is doing well,? Gingerich said. ?They?ve had great attitudes and maybe our record isn?t what we?d like it to be, but they are excited about getting to the postseason. It?s a new season for everyone, and it?s a chance to start over.?

Both the WACO-Tri-County game and IMS-Keota games will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday.