Warriors sweep Tigers in New London

NEW LONDON - We're still over a month away from track season but the second-ranked WACO basketball team has cleared plenty of hurdles on its way to 18-0.

Perhaps WACO's toughest test yet was a road game at New London on Tuesday night, one month and one day after getting pushed to the brink by the Tigers in Wayland before pulling out a two-point victory. The Warriors wouldn't let it be that close in their second matchup, however, passing the test in flying colors with a 70-44 win. The Warrior girls also pulled out a victory, winning 48-44.

The WACO boys came out of the gate firing. WACO jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led 19-7 after eight minutes, and 42-17 at the break.

WACO never looked back after the first half. The Warriors led 59-34 after three quarters and built the lead to 26 points before it was all done.

The Warriors were co-led by Kissell and Pietro Vannini, each of whom scored 18 points. Nik Coble had 15. Gabe Reichenbach scored 13, and Braden Hammond had six.

New London was paced by a 12-point performance from Blaise Porter. Kade Benjamin scored 11. Markel Luckett had eight, and Grant Swanson finished with six.

The Warrior boys had a fantastic shooting day, going 27-for-44 from the field and 7-for-13 from 3-point land. New London was 14-for-29 from the field and just 3-for-17 from deep.

The WACO girls led 11-8 after the first quarter, 23-19 at halftime and 35-32 after three quarters. Despite the loss, New London had a big game from Layney Loyd, who went for 13 points, 14 rebounds and four steals.