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Warriors wipe out Tigers
Van Buren County girls bounce right back after loss in Fairfield
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
NEW LONDON — One night after a heartbreaking one-point loss in Fairfield, the Van Buren County girls basketball team traveled further west down Highway 34 for a Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division showdown with New London.
On this day, it was the Warriors who would get the last laugh, in a runaway victory. VBC earned its ninth win of the season, 58-17.
The Warriors showed they meant business early, rushing out to a 19-3 first quarter lead and a 32-13 advantage at halftime. This, coming one day after Fairfield kick-started its win 13-0 over the Warriors.
“Our main thing was to make sure to come out and get a good start,” said Van Buren County head coach Randy Smith. “And, we’ve been just kind of flying threes up, and I thought we did a better job at getting the ball inside and attacking.”
The night featured yet another big performance from star freshman Adalyn Snowgren, who put up 18 points in the win.
“I’ve played a lot of basketball, and I have all my teammates helping me,” said Snowgren after the game. “I know if I get stuck, I can just pass it out to them, and they’ll make it. They just give me the confidence to go play my game.”
Sophia Jirak knocked down a trifecta of 3-pointers in an 11-point performance. Daphny Wells and Marlee Mertens finished with eight and seven points respectively. Ali Pedretti scored five, and the group of Aubrey Loeffler, Kayley Snowgren, Elli Daugherty and Maddie Cocherell each chipped in two.
“It’s been really nice this year, being able to compete with almost all of the teams,” Jirak said. “We have a winning record now, which is the first time I’ve had a winning record, so that’s nice.”
New London’s offense has struggled all year long, but the Tigers did have a breakout second quarter, scoring 10 points in that period alone.
The Tigers were led by Megan Lee’s eight points and eight rebounds. Evelyn Addams scored seven points, and Molly Proost finished with two.
“I’m very happy with the defense,” said New London head coach Austin Burns. “The girls knew which positions they needed to be in, and they knew where they were supposed to be moving in those positions.”
The Tigers, who have yet to win a game this season, will play at Moravia (4-8) Thursday, and at Notre Dame (1-12) on Friday, giving New London a couple more chances to get into the winning column.
As for VBC, the Warriors will host 10th-ranked (3A) Mediapolis on Friday night, in what will be the second place team in the South hosting the first place team. The Warriors, now 9-4, are already one win away from matching last year’s season total, and two wins away from securing the best record the school has had since the 2020-21 campaign.
