Lady Wolves bested in battle of two seeds

MEDIAPOLIS — For Winfield-Mt. Union, Friday’s Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shootout game against fellow South Division second seed West Burlington was about playing its brand of basketball and preparing for the postseason.

They did just that, but it was the Falcons coming away with the win, 43-41.

“They scored one more basket than us,” Winfield-Mt. Union head coach Mitch Wachs said. “They had turnovers. We had turnovers. They made plays. We made plays. They missed free throws and we missed free throws. Someone had to make a play in the end. It was a heck of basketball game and they made one more play than we did.”

The Wolves held as much as a four-point lead, 36-32, to begin the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run by the Falcons gave them a 42-38 advantage with under a minute to play.

Winfield brought it back within one, 42-41, from a Melina Oepping free throw and a layup from Bradie Buffington.

The Wolves committed a foul on the next possession sending the Falcon’s McKenna Marlow to the line. Marlow missed both, giving Winfield-Mt. Union a chance to take the lead.

The Wolves came down, and got the ball into Keetyn Townsley’s hands. Townsley got a decent look from three, but her shot fell short. WMU was able to foul once more with under three seconds to go. West Burlington made one of two from the line, making it a 43-41 ballgame, but the clock wasn’t on WMU’s side.

“It’s a perfect game for us,” Wachs said. “I told the girls before the game, it’s perfect. All games mean something, but our conference is finished up and we’re getting ready to start the postseason. I just wanted to come out and play a good game against a good team. We’re disappointed we lost, but it’s not crushing by any means.”

The game was neck and neck throughout, with neither team ever gaining more than an eight point lead. WMU held a 12-10 advantage after one quarter of play, while West Burlington led heading into halftime 21-20.

In the third, WMU came out firing, building a 32-24 lead — the largest of the game — off a 12-3 run. The lead was short-lived as West Burlington rattled off an 8-2 run to end the quarter, cutting the Wolves’ lead to just two at the start of the fourth, 34-32. The Wolves were outscored 11-7 in the fourth.

Bradie Buffington led the way for WMU with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jobey Malone finished with 10. Keetyn Townsley ended with nine. Melina Oepping had eight points and seven rebounds. Keely Malone added two points and seven assists.

Next up, WMU will host Hillcrest Academy in the first round of Class 1A Region six on Feb. 10.

“Monday it starts,” Wachs said of the postseason. “We’ve got three days. It’s the first time in awhile that we’ve only got one game in a week. It’s kind of welcoming after this week. What a grind this week was, but we handled it well. We’re not going to do anything new this time of year. We are who we are and we have what we have. We’re comfortable with who we are. We’re gonna go see how good it is.”