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WACO dominates in road win
Warriors defeat Columbus in first game of 2026
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
COLUMBUS JUNCTION — WACO entered the halftime break with a three point lead on the road at Columbus. The Warriors and Wildcats engaged in a physical battle in the opening 16 minutes that seemed to be setting up an equally tight second half.
But the Warriors had other plans. They were first able to put points on the board in the third quarter before any time came off the clock due to a technical foul called on Columbus’ coach Jacob Korbakes after the halftime buzzer sounded.
“It was more just built up frustration between just mental violations on free throws, mental travels, just stuff really not going our way,” Korbakes said. “I’ve got to be more mature in that situation as a coach and I would put today’s game on me and it’s just my fault.”
WACO’s Holden Hughes sunk the two technical free throws after both teams emerged from the locker room. That ignited a 14-0 WACO run to start the second half as the Warriors adjustments at the break paid off. They outscored Columbus 38-18 in the final two quarters to cruise to a 67-44 victory.
“Huge win for us,” WACO coach Chayse Roth said. “Columbus is an up-and-coming team for sure. They’ve given a couple of the teams in the North some really good run, and we knew we had to play well, and it’s good to come to their place and play as well as we did.”
WACO scored 25 points in the third quarter alone. The bigger impact came on defense, as WACO slowed down Columbus’ top scorer Ellis Hills-Carrier, who scored 13 points in the first two quarters but had just three in the second half.
“We needed to have more than one guy on him,” Roth said. “So, we really had our emphasis on him defensively. And then we wanted to run the floor and really let our athletes and our basketball players play ball, and they did a really good job of that in that third quarter.”
Hughes scored 12 of his 16 points in the third, becoming a mismatch inside for Columbus. Junior Hayden Shelman led the way for WACO with 21 points.
Like Hughes, Shelman did most of his damage in the second half with 14 of his points coming in the third and fourth quarters. He found the bottom of the net at all three levels with a pair of made 3-pointers, five 2-pointers and five made free throws.
“I wasn’t really shooting the best in the first half and I just sort of (kept) shooting, didn’t get too scared about me not hitting the shots and the crowd getting all into it,” Shelman said. “So I just played my game and everything fell into place.”
WACO improved to 5-2 with the win before dropping its next matchup to Winfield-Mt. Union on Saturday. The Warriors now sit at 5-3 and remain 5-2 against Southeast Iowa Super Conference North competition.
Hills-Carrier’s 16 points led all scorers for Columbus. Drake Marin also finished in double figures with 14 points, including nine of the Wildcats’ 18 in the second half by way of three made triples.
Columbus 4-4 (3-4 SEISC) has the opportunity to rebound against Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday. A win would see the Wildcats move back above .500 and match their conference tally of four victories last season.
“It’s not going to be easy, and we’ve just really got to learn from these moments,” Korbakes said. “And tonight is a great learning experience for me as a coach.”
