WACO cruises past Keota in round one

WAYLAND — The WACO girls basketball team put together a complete performance in their Class 1A Region 8 opener against Keota.

WACO held Keota to 10 or less in each of the four quarters on its way to a 69-31 victory.

For the Warriors, the contest was never in doubt.

WACO wasted no time making its presence know, specifically inside the paint.

The Warrior’s length paid dividends as they were able to dominate the boards, while forcing the Eagles into tough shots from outside.

Through the first quarter, WACO held the Eagles to just two points, their lowest of the game, while scoring 16 of its own.

“We wanted to come out and settle in quickly,” WACO head coach Lisa Graber said. “We wanted to do things really sharply and just build on our goals and I felt that the girls did that very well.”

WACO kept the momentum going into the second, extending its lead to 22-2 and then 28-3.

Keota was able to find a spark with just two minutes to go in the quarter.

A three by the Eagles Taylor Garman kicked off what would be a 9-2 run to the end of the period.

At the break, the Warriors led 30-12.

Out of the half, WACO began to create more separation.

For WACO, Grace Coble scored on a foul to start the third and Katie Leichty followed with two to make it 34-12.

The Eagle’s Grace Conger answered with a three to make it 34-15, but that is as close as Keota would come.

WACO proceeded to scored 10 unanswered, all coming from Ellah Kissell and Natalie West, to put the Warriors up 44-15.

From that point on, WACO finished the quarter on top 7-6.

Heading into the fourth, WACO held a 51-21.

In the final quarter of the night, the Warriors outscored the Eagles 18-10 to seal their opening round win.

Kissell led the Warriors with 28 points on the night. Coble followed with 12 points and broke the Warriors previous rebounding single-game record of 19 with 21 on the night.

“Coming in, we knew we had to just focus on our own game and our goals,” WACO senior Grace Coble said. “Tonight, we didn’t let up at all and we just kept the momentum all night and it was pretty fun. We played as a team tonight.”

West ended with nine points. Emma Wagler tallied eight. Leichty had six points, Marie Farmer four and Ella Huisenga two.

For Keota, Conger had a high of 13 points. Kimberly Clarahan carded seven points. Taylor Garman and Macie McDonald each had three. Ava Greiner and Addy Purkeypile had two. Dakota Dodd had one.

“The best part of this season has been the never say die attitude,” Keota head coach Jeff Sprouse said. “A coach always likes to see that, but we truly have it. The kids never backed down.”

In round two of the Class 1A Region 8 bracket, the Warriors (18-4) will take on Burlington Notre Dame (17-6).

In the two’s lone meeting this season, the Nikes got the better of the Warriors by the narrow margin of 51-45.

“I think the biggest thing we need to do is limit our turnovers,” Coble said. “Last time we had some big turnovers early that cost us. If we keep those numbers down, it’s gonna be a battle.”