It was a Southeast Iowa Superconference split for the Winfield-Mount Union and Lone Tree basketball teams in Winfield Friday night, with the Lone Tree girls and WMU boys picking up wins in the Area Game of the Week.

In the girls game, the Lady Lions were able to use a 31-10 scoring advantage in the second half to propel themselves to a dominant 75-33 win. Action was tight early, seeing Lone Tree up 23-15 after the first quarter thanks to 12 early points from senior Finley Jacque. The lead swelled to 21 by halftime thanks to 12 more points from Jacque. In the third, the Lady Lion defense began to intensify, forcing an unofficial 11 turnovers from WMU on their way to a third-straight quarter scoring at least 20 points. In the fourth, the defense remained stout, causing another handful of turnovers to close out the win.

Unofficially, Jacque would end up with a career-high 30 points on the night to lead all scorers. Teammates Harper Kuboushek and Dalanie Graap would follow with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Lone Tree won rebounds 40-17 and turnovers by 13. Lilly Heckethorn led the Lady Wolves with 10 points. After the game, Jacque would join KCII Sports as the Lady Lion of the Game to break down the win and her feelings on setting a new career high.

“It’s good to get a win like that under your belt just to know what you’re capable of,” Jacque said. “Not that it was an easy win because we had a lot to work on, especially on our defense, but it’s nice to know that we can go up at that night and we can score 77 or whatever it was. Today in school, me and Dalanie [Graap] were talking about the game and she was like, ‘You’re getting 30 tonight?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, we’ll see!’ And then I get that first pass to her and she starts hitting. And when me and Dalanie, when we start having a good time together, it feels lighter to play and it feels like a lot fun.”

In the nightcap, the WMU boys fended off a fierce comeback attempt by Lone Tree to take a 46-36 win. The Lions found themselves in the lead early 12-10 thanks to John Daufeldt’s early eight points in the first eight minutes. In the second, the Wolves turned up the wick defensively, only allowing one Lion bucket to take a 25-15 lead into the half. Out of the locker rooms, it seemed as if WMU had things on lock, until senior Reece Holbrook heated up from deep. Holbrook connected on three triples in the frame to pull the Lions back to within two before the final quarter. However, it would not be enough for a complete comeback, as Max Edwards took over for the Wolves in the fourth, scoring nine of his team-high 15 points to secure the win.

Unofficially, WMU won rebounds by 19 and turnovers by eight. Individually, Cody Milks and Isaac Egli followed Edwards’ 15 with 12 and nine, respectively. Lone Tree was led by 12 each from Daufeldt and Holbrook. WMU senior Edwards joined KCII Sports live on the Area Game of the Week postgame show to talk about the win.

“ I mean, it was nice. We know that when our shots aren’t falling like today, we have to play gritty defense, and I think we did that. Made sure we got to our shooters and did enough plays to win the game,” Edwards said.

With their wins, the Lone Tree girls raise their record to 3-2 overall, while the WMU boys stay unbeaten at 2-0. The WMU girls drop to 1-3, while the Lone Tree boys drop to 0-2. Both teams return next Tuesday for conference doubleheaders. The Area Game of the Week will follow the Wolves to Hillcrest Academy Tuesday when they take on the Ravens.