WACO girls win 8th-straight game

WAYLAND — The WACO girls basketball team is red-hot, and they stayed that way on Monday night against New London.

The Warriors racked up a season high in points against a Tiger squad that shot pretty well on the other end. WACO still breezed by with a 70-39 victory.

The Warriors led 19-8 after one quarter, and 42-25 at halftime, thanks in part to another huge scoring effort from Ellah Kissell. The WACO senior had 21 points at the half to lead all scorers.

Kissell scored 12 in the third quarter to reach 33 for the day, and New London couldn’t keep up with the Warriors’ scoring outburst. The Tigers had trouble keeping the ball away from the full-court pressing WACO bunch all night.

“In the first quarter, we were in it,” said New London head coach Terri Hester-Mathews. “In the second quarter, we just kept throwing the ball away.”

New London held the lead below 20 for most of the game, but in the end, WACO just had too much.

“I think defensively we could have been sharper,” said WACO head coach Lisa Graber. “But at the same time I think we did some really nice things, too.”

Kissell finished the night with 39 points. Grace Coble finished with 11. Natalie West scored six. Emma Wagler had five. Katie Liechty finished with four. Marie Farmer had three, and Halle Shelman scored two.

New London’s Miller Miller had a monster night on the boards, finishing the game with 10 points and 19 rebounds. Natalie Burden and Sophie Malott scored eight points apiece. Emma Nye had five. Morgan Jones and Lille Gallup each scored four.

WACO’s eighth-straight win put the Warriors at 10-2 on the year. New London is now 0-13.

“Credit goes to them continuing to improve in a lot of little areas,” said Graber. “Our goal is to peak at the right time of the season.”