WACO shoots past Wildcats

The long ball was certainly in full use in Columbus Junction on Tuesday night.

The WACO boys? basketball team came to town to take on Columbus, and seven of the Warriors? first eight made field goals came from the 3-point shot.

Overall, the Warriors hit 12 3-pointers in the contest, as they cruised to a 66-31 victory over the Wildcats.

?It?s good,? WACO senior Braden Blake said. ?We needed to end on a strong point for the regular season to move on to the tournament. It?s good for the team.?

Blake finished the game with nine points in the game, as the Warriors improved to 9-11 to end the regular season and Columbus fell to 1-19.

Both teams will participate in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference shootout on Friday before opening up their postseason schedules on Monday.

Despite the record not being where they want it, WACO head coach Bob Hilmer said that he?s excited about the team?s prospects for the playoffs.

?We are getting better as we go along and we just have to keep playing,? Hilmer said. ?It?s hard in practice, because our backup people are not experienced and sometimes we have trouble telling what?s going on, but we practice hard. We are going to get better and better, and we?ve stayed with so many good teams that we have a lot of confidence, even though our record is just mediocre.?

The Warriors and Wildcats were locked in a battle until midway through the first quarter, when the Warriors went on a 9-2 run to close the quarter to take a 20-11 lead.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats closed the gap to five points, but a 12-0 run helped WACO take a 39-20 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Warriors used a 12-2 run right out of the gate to jump up 51-22, and didn?t look back, cruising to the victory.

?What we have to keep working at is offensively, being patient on possessions,? Hilmer said. ?Tonight we were a little more patient than we had been in the past, which is good, because sometimes we just force the ball up there. We took our time tonight for the most part and got good shots. We have to make every possession count.?

The Warriors were led by BJ Rodgers? 17 points in the contest, as the freshman put in four 3-pointers. Duncan Pickard also had four 3-pointers for the Warriors in the game.

WACO will host Cardinal on Friday night before hosting Maharishi in a first-round tournament game on Monday night, while Columbus will host Maharishi on Friday before traveling to West Burlington for a tournament game on Monday.