Wolves pick up where they left off

WINFIELD — Last year, the Winfield-Mount Union girls basketball team won 18 games before taking any losses. On Friday night, the Wolves showed they’re still one of the team’s to beat one year later.

WMU hosted New London in a season-opening Southeast Iowa Super Conference crossover. The Wolves rolled 71-15.

WMU brought back three uber-talented post players from last season, and when the game started, all three were on the floor at the same time, a height and skill advantage that the younger and smaller Tigers couldn’t match.

Those players; Bradie Buffington, Jobey Malone and Melina Oepping, gave New London nightmares on both ends. Oepping made the move to wing to free up space for all three, and the strategy paid off.

“The biggest change I've made this year is being able to have all three bigs on the court at the same time,” said Winfield-Mount Union head coach Mitch Wachs. “(Melina) is so quick, and her anticipation skills are as good as anybody's. I thought she had a really good game tonight too.”

Between the three of them, the Wolves’ bigs scored 42 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

“We play hard during practice, and when we go against each other, we're all decently matched,” said Malone after the win. “It's easy to get better.”

Buffington paced the Wolves with 17 points and five rebounds. Malone ended the night with 13 points and five rebounds. Oepping filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.

The top Wolves guard was Keetyn Townsley, who finished the day with 11 points. Keely Malone had six points and six assists. Kailey Neil and Anna Anderson scored six points apiece, and Carlee Sloan ended the day with four steals.

New London was short-handed without the services of starting point guard Ashlyn McSorley. The Tigers’ lone senior is out for the beginning of the year with an injury.

Freshman Mylee Miller got off to a hot start in her first high school game, scoring six points, all in the first half. Camryn Lair finished the night with three points, and Natalie Burden, Lillie Gallup and Kayla Strawhacker all scored two.

New London followed Friday’s game at Winfield-Mount Union with a 63-18 road loss at Davis County on Saturday. The Tigers are 0-2.

As for WMU, it’s the first win in what Wolves’ fans hope can be a second-helping of last year’s feats on area teams. Coach Wachs, however, says he doesn’t think last year’s success will put anymore pressure on the 2021-22 squad.

“I don't think so, because a lot of these kids are in different roles,” Wachs said. “It's really a whole different dynamic, losing seven seniors, and I don't look at it as that, because I think we're a completely different team.”