It was a Southeast Iowa Superconference basketball doubleheader split Tuesday night, with wins for the Columbus boys and Lone Tree girls in Columbus Junction.
The Lady Lions started the night scoring a 56-48 road win over the Wildcats. Columbus held a 10-7 lead after one and used a mini 7-0 run in the second to go up 28-22 at the break. Lone Tree came alive in the third quarter, pouring in 13 straight to take a lead they would not give up the rest of the night, finding themselves on top 38-33 after three stretching the advantage to as many as nine in the final period. Following the contest, Lone Tree Player of the Game Ava Christofferson joined the KCII Area Game of the Week Postgame show live to talk about the win. “(At halftime) we talked about needing to drive more and swing the ball more. Make sure that each player is doing their part. It’s big for us to take care of the ball. If we can do that, usually, we can get to where we need to be. My teammate Finley (Jacque) when we get that connection going, she’s right there and it just makes the game more fun. It’s a great feeling being out there with all of your friends. This win feels really good. I think we all kind of needed that!”
The Lady Lions won rebounds by two, including by seven in the second half. Columbus won turnovers 29-25. Finley Jacque led Lone Tree with 24 points, Christofferson was right behind her with 19, the pair had 29 of the 34 points the Lions scored after half. Eight total Wildcats scored, led by 12 points from Isabel Rendon and 10 from Kennedy Woepking. Lone Tree gets back to level at 2-2 on the year and 1-1 in conference play as Columbus falls to 0-2 in both marks.
The Columbus boys used a comeback of their own to win their season opener, and coaching debut for new head coach Jacob Korbakes 64-55. Lone Tree led early 16-13 after one and was on top by the same margin at 31-28 at the half. The Wildcats overtook the Lions with stingy defense in the third, allowing just six total points to go ahead 39-37. Columbus took control in the fourth. They started the frame with nine straight points and parlayed that into a 14-3 run that allowed them to push the lead to as many as 13 and finish the win. Following the contest, Wildcat players Drew Totemeier, Elliot Wessley, Drake Marin, Ellis Hills-Carrier and Gabe Zuniga joined the Area Game of the Week postgame show to break down the win. “We had to play our game and not get sped up. It goes back to the work that we do in practice. Get back to our fundamentals, get back to our game. We gave up a lot of transition buckets in the first half. Cleaning that up and then playing in our half court offense really pushed us above the mark. Communication picked up between everyone and our press started working really well. It’s always big to get the crowd into it. Our community is really supporting us and that gives us something to work for. This win means a lot to us, but it’s just the start to our journey of where we’re trying to get. This is a new era of Columbus basketball, we talk about that a lot in practice. We’re different this year and we’re working hard!”
Columbus won the glass by four on the night, including by eight in the second half. Lone Tree won turnovers 20-18. Individually, four Wildcats found double figures, led by 17 points from Marin, including three threes. Hills-Carrier finished with 15 points, Totemeier had 13 and Wessley 12. Lone Tree standouts including 15 points from Domonic Garcia and 11 each from John Daufeldt and Reece Holbrook. Columbus is 1-0 after the win as Lone Tree falls to 0-1.