Wolves survive Warriors’ late push

WINFIELD - Saturday's girls basketball battle between Winfield-Mt. Union and Van Buren County was an early clash of the titans in the Union Coverage area. Despite a fierce comeback by the visiting Warriors, the Wolves came out victorious in that clash, beating VBC 54-50 to remain unscathed.

Even without former first team all-conference player Jenna Buffington, who was sitting out with an ankle sprain, the Wolves pounced on the Warriors early. W-MU utilized a flurry of points inside to open up a double-digit lead early, and the Wolves led 18-5 after one quarter.

VBC star Isabel Manning would keep the Warriors in the game throughout the first half. Manning had 12 points in the second quarter, and 17 of the Warriors' 18 points at halftime. The Wolves, on the other hand, had seven different scorers, including six from Jobey Malone, and led 25-18 at the break.

VBC continued to chip away at the lead in the second half. After W-MU took a 36-31 lead into halftime, the Warriors opened the fourth on a 10-4 scoring run to hold a temporary lead, at 41-40.

Despite a couple of clutch 3-pointers from VBC's Ella Jirak and 15 more points for Manning in the second half, the Wolves had just enough juice to outlast the Warriors. Led by Farrah Nelson's nine second-half points, the Wolves pulled past the Warriors to move to 5-0.

'We have a lot of good players, and I think we used them really well tonight,” said W-MU head coach Mitch Wachs. 'This is one of those games that can give you the confidence that you need.”

Nelson ended the night with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead W-MU. Jobey Malone and Melina Oepping scored eight apiece. Jami Wilkerson and Keely Malone scored seven each. Kyndal Townsley scored six points, and Keetyn Townsley had four.

One night after eclipsing 1,000 points Manning had a nother huge night for VBC. She scored 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to pace the Warriors, who fell to 2-2 with the loss.

Jirak finished the night with six points. Kadence Nausbaum and Kalyn Tuttle scored two points each, and both Zoe Best and Shea Scott ended the game with two.