Warriors hold off Wolves

As the clock ticked down on the girls? game in Wayland on Tuesday night, the WACO girls? basketball team was scrambling to work the ball up the court and hang on for a six-point win over rival Winfield-Mt. Union, to move to .500 for the first time this season.

The Warriors used a big second quarter to jump out to a nice lead, and held on tight in the fourth to pull out the 33-27 victory, the team?s fourth of the year, and second in a row.

The two teams battled hard in the first half, and after a 5-5 first quarter, WACO started to take over with a stingy defense that turned into points on the other end.

Two first-half 3-pointers by Kiana Miller, including one that broke a 7-7 tie in the second quarter, helped pace the Warriors to an 18-7 lead with less than a minute left in the half, but a steal and a coast-to-coast layup by Allie McArtor helped W-MU cut the lead to 18-9 at halftime.

?We turned the ball over entirely too many times in the first half,? said Wolves? head coach Mitch Wachs after the contest. ?I?ll credit WACO, they got in the passing lanes, and we didn?t do anything about it.?

Halle Kissell started to take over in the third quarter for the Warriors, despite being in foul trouble. She worked in the post to earn free throws, and even banked in a 3-pointer, en route to an eight-point second half.

WACO went into the fourth quarter with a 25-17 lead, but a W-MU press, and some late points by Lexee Hartsock helped the Wolves make it interesting in the final minutes.

If we get in our offense and get post touches, we can get a chance to score the basketball,? said Wachs. ?We hung in there and got it going in the second half. ?

A full-court press by the Wolves led to a few turnovers, and a couple of mad scrambles for the ball, one of which forced the exit of W-MU guard Sophie Kongable with a cut below the eye.

With WACO leading, 33-27, the Wolves were able to get a few good looks at the basket, but nothing was falling, and the Warriors were on top when the clock hit zero.

Kissell and Miller were both able to reach double digits in the WACO win, with 12 points apiece. Kasey Sutton scored four points for the Warriors, Clara Schmitz and Kristen Connelly had two, and Cierra McAartor had one.

Hartsock finished with 13 points to lead all scorers, with 10 of those points coming in the second half. Allie McArtor finished with eight points, Hannah Mathews had three, Hannah Buffington finished with two, and Kara Wade had one. Pearl Krieger-Coble was held scoreless for the Wolves, but finished with 11 rebounds. Senior guard Caitlin Jamison was absent from the game, with a broken finger.

WACO (4-4) will be at home again on Friday, when they host Wapello. W-MU will continue their road trip on Friday, when they travel to Lone Tree. Both games start at 6 p.m.