Lady Wolves play for state

WILLIAMSBURG — In 1998, the Winfield-Mount Union girls basketball team lost a 48-46 thriller to Lynnville-Sully in the Class 1A state basketball championship, a game that closed out a four-year run of making the state tournament.

Now 25 years later, the Wolves have yet to make it back to the promised land. But the 2022-23 team is one win away from breaking that streak.

The eighth-ranked Wolves take on the 13th-ranked North Mahaska Warhawks at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, inside Williamsburg High School. There will be a state qualifier banner in attendance, waiting to be scooped up by the Region 8 champions.

The Wolves come in 21-1 on the season. WMU had a tough road to get to this point, having to hold off Holy Trinity Catholic 56-42 before hanging on to beat previously-ranked Notre Dame 57-54.

The Warhawks, on the other hand, have blown through their three opponents. North Mahaska wiped out Tri-County 61-31, beat Sigourney 68-47, and cruised past Lynnville-Sully 59-37 to earn a shot at WMU.

The Wolves are certainly the more experienced team. WMU starts five seniors, including post duo Bradie Buffington (14.5 PPG, 8.3 RPG) and Melina Oepping (12.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG) who have punished opposing defenses down low all season.

The Wolves also have plenty of experience in the back court. Keetyn Townsley (9.7 PPG, 3.6 SPG), Keely Malone (9.7 PPG, 4.7 APG) and Anna Anderson (4.3 PPG) round out the starting five, and sophomore Josie Nelson (3.8 PPG) has given the team a big spark from the underclass.

North Mahaska, on the other hand, is led almost exclusively by its sophomores. In fact, they start five of them. That includes Warhawks star Breckyn Schilling (19 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.0 APG) who has been the anchor of the team all season long.

Another sophomore, Regan Grewe scores 11.6 points per game for the Warhawks. Sydney Anderson scores 7.3 points per game and holds a slight rebounding advantage over the rest of the team with 5.9. Libby Hargis, the fourth sophomore in the starting five, scores five points per game. Kayla Readshaw rounds out the starters with 4.5 points per game.

North Mahaska has just two seniors on the whole roster, and only one that gets regular playing time. Jessica Castaneda scores 4.6 points per game, and brings down 5.8 rebounds per contest.

Wednesday night’s winner will play in the Class 1A quarterfinals just under one week later at the site of the 2023 state tournament, Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.