Late scoring propels Warriors

NEW LONDON — Both Van Buren County and New London girls basketball have had a tough road through the last month of action.

Van Buren County entered the Tuesday night Southeast Iowa Super Conference South matchup with just two wins, while New London still is searching for its first.

The first time the two teams met it was a tightly contest game that ended with VBC on top 44-30 and this time around it was an even narrower margin with the Warriors taking it 35-28.

Van Buren took the reins of the game in the first half.

The Warriors were clicking offensively, as Annabelle Cormier was feeling her shot early.

Van Buren held just a one-point lead, 6-5, until Cormier drilled a three with 1:26 on the clock to put the Warriors up 9-5.

In the second, Cormier continued to lead the Warriors charge.

Over the first two minutes of the second, the Warriors and Tigers were sitting at 2-2 for the quarter after Ivy Davison hit a pair of free throws and the Tiger’s Mylee Miller hit a layup.

Cormier followed with a five point spurt that included a three and a layup to push the Warriors lead to 16-7.

The Tiger’s Natalie Burden answered with a three of her own, but Cormier buried another to keep the margin at nine, 19-10.

New London was able to end strong though, scoring four straight in the final two minutes to make it 19-14 at the half.

Out of the break, New London went to work.

After another close start, which saw both teams score a pair, the Tiger’s Morgan Jones finished an and one with 3:29 to go kicking off a 8-2 run to the end of the quarter.

New London’s Emma Nye hit a jumper with 15 seconds to cap off the run and give the Tigers a 24-23 lead heading into the fourth.

The Tigers took the third, 10-4.

With just a slim deficit, Van Buren had the answers in the fourth.

Davison split at the line to tie it within the first minute, 24-24, but neither team would score until the midway point of the period.

Miller gave the Tigers back the lead with a lay in, but the Warriors finished with a game deciding run.

Van Buren scored 11 straight in the final two minutes to make it 35-26.

The Tigers scored last, but the time was not there.

With the win, Van Buren moves to 3-7 on the season, while New London drops to 0-14.