Warrior girls through to next round

KEOSAUQUA ? The Van Buren girls? basketball team moved one step closer to a state tournament bid with a 57-46 win over Davis County to open regional play Saturday.

The 10th-ranked (Class 2A) Warriors led wire-to-wire, overcoming foul trouble late in the game to keep their state tournament hopes alive.

Van Buren took a 17-9 advantage after one quarter and 30-17 lead by halftime. The Warriors led by as many as 19 points in the contest before seeing their double-digit lead slip away amid foul outs from Payten Hughes and Jordan Billups. Jessica Saunders played with four fouls for half the final period.

?We should?ve blown them out when we were up by 19, and then the fouls got Davis County back in the game,? said Van Buren head coach Matt Zeitler. ?We had to work for it, but I think this game should help us going forward.?

Makenzie Zeitler was a force in four categories, tallying 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and eight steals. Hanna Haynes scored 20 points along with 12 boards, while Saunders finished with nine points, four assists and four steals. Billups added four points.

The Warriors (21-1, 16-0 SEISC south) continue the postseason with a home matchup vs. Central Lee on Tuesday.

VAN BUREN ? Zeitler 4 13-17 22, Haynes 9 2-5 20, Heckenberg 0 0-0 0, Saunders 4 1-2 9, Hughes 0 2-3 2, Filson 0 0-0 0, Rider 0 0-0 0, Billups 2 0-0 4, Totals 19 18-27 57

3-point goals ? Zeitler 1. Rebounds ? Zeitler 14, Haynes 12, Hughes 7. Assists ? Zeitler 7, Saunders 4. Steals ? Zeitler 8, Saunders 4, Rider 2. Blocks ? Haynes 3