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Panthers outlast Warriors
Pekin girls stave off WACO in regional opener
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
PACKWOOD — The Pekin and WACO girls basketball teams were already plenty familiar with each other before Thursday night’s Class 1A Region 6 opener.
The Panthers had beaten the Warriors twice already this season, though one game went down to the final minutes. It was a similar situation on Thursday, as Pekin had to rally to earn a 51-43 postseason win.
Pekin had to battle back from a fourth-quarter deficit, after going down 22-20 at halftime and 36-32 at the end of the third.
“They stayed the course all game, and stayed with the game plan that we put in,” said Pekin head coach Neil Hartz. “They played really hard, and that was a heck of a fourth quarter for them.”
The Panthers had to make some huge shots down the stretch. In the third quarter, when WACO was making its big run, Maddy Petrehn knocked down two of her three 3-pointers on the night. Then, when the Panthers took a one-point lead in the fourth, Carlie Gambell banked one in from the top of the key to keep Pekin on top for good.
“We figured they were going to try to take Anna (Hadley) away,” said Hartz. “That’s exactly what they did, but Maddy hit some threes, and Carlie hit a couple, and Ezra (Parsons). That changed everything for us.”
Leading the overall charge was senior Abby Guise, who put up 17 points and nine rebounds in the win.
“We had our team there supporting us, and making sure we stayed uplifted,” said Guise about the comeback. “They made sure we stayed up and didn’t look down at our mistakes. This season, we’ve struggled, making one mistake and making more after that, but we’ve kind of learned from that.”
Gambell finished the night with 11 points. Hadley and Petrehn each scored 10, and Parsons finished with three.
WACO had a very balanced scoring attack, led by Drew Graber’s 11 points. Bren Graber finished with nine. Javan Davis ended with six. Brenna Graber had five. Carlee Lunsford, Madelyn Farmer and Ava Wagler each scored three, and both Abby Waterhouse and Kaylan Willits finished with two.
“We came out and played as a team,” said WACO head coach Mitch Drey. “I don’t think this was the first time, but clearly the best time, that the girls came out and played for each other, and that was really cool to see.”
WACO finished the year 7-14. Pekin (11-11) will take on top-seeded Dunkerton (19-2) in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Highland 64, Winfield-Mt. Union 35
In another all-Union area battle, Highland moved past WMU in a Region 6 opener.
This one was all Highland, as the Huskies finished off the season sweep of the Wolves.
Emersyn Shultz led the way for Highland in that game, scoring 15 points. Katelyn Thomann and Haley Brun scored 11 points each. Mackenzie Davis had nine points and 10 rebounds, and Kamryn Fink filled the stat sheet with nine points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals.
Highland will play Keota in the quarterfinals, and the winner of that game will take on the winner of the Pekin-Dunkerton matchup in the semis.
