WACO sweeps Keota at home

WAYLAND - It was a marquee matchup at WACO High School on Saturday night when undefeated WACO met undefeated Keota in boys basketball. The Warriors held home court with a 62-40 win in the boys game, preceded by a 63-16 win for the girls.

In the boys game, the two teams traded blows early but WACO held a 12-11 lead after eight minutes. Keota's Luke Hammen scored five points in the first quarter, and WACO's Nik Coble matched that with five of his own.

The Warriors began to stretch the lead in the second quarter, thanks in part to 10 points by Braden Hammond. Despite six points each from Hammen and J.D. Stout, WACO held a 33-26 lead at the break.

The Warriors turned it on in the second half. WACO outscored Keota 16-5 in the third quarter, thanks to six more from Hammond, and Drew Kissell dropped eight in the fourth to help the Warriors stretch the lead past 20 points.

Hammond finished the night with 19 points, including four three-pointers. He hit four threes in Friday night's 62-40 road win over Central Lee as well.

'He really found his stroke against Central Lee,” WACO coach Paul Kissell said. 'He was able to hit four threes then, and I'm not sure how many he had tonight. It was a nice game for Braden.”

Coble filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Kissell scored 15 of his own to give WACO three double-digit scorers.

Gabe Reichenbach scored five points in the win. Pietro Vannini had four. Elijah McGohan scored three, and Will Edeker had one.

Hammen finished with 14 points to lead Keota. Stout had 12. Brady Duwa scored seven. Carson Sprouse finished with five, and Tyler Waterhouse had two.

'Give credit to their defense. They got after us,” Keota head coach Dan Stout said. 'They played hard, and they had hands in our faces. We didn't shoot the ball very well. We're used to making a lot of shots, but their defense played smarter than us, and they made more plays than we did.”

The girls game was all WACO. The Warriors led 19-4 after one quarter, 40-9 at halftime and 55-11 in the break. WACO hit nine threes in the win, eight of which came in the first half.

Molly McLaughlin hit four three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with a team-leading 14 points. Grace Conwell had 13, and Ellah Kissell scored 11 to give WACO three double-digit scorers.

Morgan Graber scored eight points. Laney Graber had seven. Lindsey Roth scored four. Grace Coble, Kate Leichty and Maysan Lee had two each.

'We've had a lot of open shots this year,” said WACO head coach Caylon Devaul. Last year we didn't have as many outside shots. We were afraid to shoot it, I think. This year, they have that freedom to pull the trigger. Last night and tonight, they shot the ball well.”

Keota's Bailey Sieren scored four points to lead the team. Macie McDonald, Taylor Kindred and Sky Weber had three points apiece. Jordan Hammen had two, and Taylor Garman scored one.