WACO ends season vs. Danville

BURLINGTON ? No. 2 Danville probably had to work a little harder than expected on Thursday night.

WACO gave the Bears all they could handle  for three out of the four quarters played, but a rough second period doomed the Warriors as they were knocked out of the district tournament, 63-47.

The Warriors started out hot, taking an early lead over the Bears with a combination of inside and outside scoring.

Danville struggled to gain the lead in the first eight minutes, but the Bears were able to finally jump ahead at the end of the first period and WACO trailed, 14-13 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Danville started to pull away, using a pressure defense that forced a few WACO turnovers that led to easy buckets on the other end. The Bears outscored the Warriors, 22-5. It was the only period that was decided by more than two points, but it was enough to put WACO in a 36-18 halftime hole.

The Warriors bounced right back in the final two quarters, keeping their turnovers down and hitting a few more shots from downtown. In all, WACO had seven 3-pointers on the day.

WACO outscored the Bears, 29-27 in the second half, but the Warriors were never able to cut the lead to single digits in the final two quarters, and the time ran out on the WACO season.

?(We) played well for three quarters,? said head coach Paul Kissell about the loss. ?(We) let it get away from us in the second quarter. Too many turnovers gave them easy looks in transition.?

Coach Kissell also said he was pleased with how his seniors placed. It was the last high school game for Justyn Chalupa, Jackson Gerot, Bryce Achen and Duncan Pickard.

?Duncan came out shooting. Achen and Gerot played well, hitting boards and finishing inside, and Chalupa came off the bench and played solid defense.?

Pickard hit three of the team?s seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-leading 15 points. Achen had 13. Jackson Roth and Gerot each had eight points. Gerot led with 10 rebounds and Achen tallied eight rebounds and three steals. Gabe Black rounded out the Warriors? scoring effort with three.

WACO finished their season 5-19. Danville moved on with the win and will play Notre Dame in the district semifinals on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m.