Wildcats down Warriors in opener

WAYLAND ? The WACO and Columbus girls? basketball teams opened their regular season on Tuesday night in Wayland. The young Warriors had trouble containing the Wildcats, who played a fast-paced game and won every quarter, eventually taking the game, 40-14.

The Wildcats jumped out to a fast start, especially defensively, as they held WACO without a field goal in the first quarter. The Wildcats would find the bottom of the basket a few times in the first, and took an 11-1 lead into the second.

The second quarter was by far the best for the WACO girls, who stuck with Columbus the entire time, and didn?t let the Wildcats break the game open before halftime. However, the Wildcats still were able to outscore the Warriors, 12-9 in the quarter, to take a 23-10 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Wildcats turned up the pressure defense, both in the full-court and half-court set, and were able to come away with a few steals that led to easy baskets. WACO went cold during the last two quarters, going scoreless in the third quarter, and scoring just twice in the fourth, on 2-point baskets by Kristen Conley and Ashleigh Hallett.

Columbus junior Shania Boyd had a big half to lead the Wildcats, who outscored WACO 17-4 in the final two quarters. She scored 11 points in the half, and hit the only 3-pointer of the second half for either team.

?I thought defensively we were able to do what we wanted to do, as far as getting some pressure,? said Columbus head coach Kasey Keltner, who spoke about the pressure defense and transition game. ?We feel like we?ve got some guards that can move and run well, and we?ve gotta try to force the offense to play faster than they?re capable of playing.?

Boyd led the Wildcats with 19 points total. Bailey Stroud had eight points. Laura Mincks finished with six, Maki Mendenhall had three, and Courtney Zaehringer, and Sarah Todd each scored two.

For WACO, three players (Hallett, Clara Schmitz, and Halle Kissell) finished with four points. Schmitz and Kissell scored all of their points in the first half. Conley?s two points in the second half were her only points of the ballgame.

?I thought we did all right,? said WACO head coach Shannon Rugg about his young team. ?We?re just trying to figure out what we can do and what we can?t do right now. We just have to play basketball.?

Both squads will be in action again on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. Columbus will host Lone Tree, and WACO will host Mediapolis. There will be a boys? varsity game after both girls? games.