It was a Southeast Iowa Superconference style KCII Area Game of the Week Friday in Columbus Junction when the Wildcats hosted the WACO Warriors in a doubleheader. The girls game came down to the final seconds before the Wildcats turned away the Warriors with a 43-42 win. The ‘Cats were on the run early, scoring eight straight in the first quarter and putting together a 10-1 run that also included a 10 minute WACO field goal drought to build a 10-3 lead after the first and 19-14 advantage at half. The Wildcats stretched their lead to a dozen in the third quarter thanks to eight in the frame from Kennedy Woepking, before WACO made a move to chip away behind baskets from Brenna and Drew Graber. Trailing 34-30 going to the fourth, the Warriors put together a 12-2 run midway through the frame to take their first lead of the night, but Columbus got clutch play down the stretch from Woepking who was perfect at the line in the final 30 seconds and a defensive stop in the last 15 seconds, as the Warriors missed two opportunities for the win. Following the contest, Wildcat senior Iris Garza joined the KCII Postgame show to talk about the win. “My key on defense is to keep my hands off of the girls. I was doing good with stealing. I just had to make sure that my team was doing the same thing. I watch how they handle the ball. I see the open opportunity and I take the ball away. (On offense), I got those looks tonight because we did really well passing the ball and then making the open shot. (In the late timeouts) we told each other to stick together, that has been tough for us in games this week, not falling apart at the end, but tonight we stuck together through the whole game and that felt good! It was very nerve-wracking at the end, but I knew that my team needed me and I had to step up. In our last defensive stop, Kennedy Woepking, I saw that she took the ball away and I knew that was game!”

The Wildcats won the glass by 10, WACO won turnovers 26-24. The Wildcats put a pair in double figures led by a 21 point 10 rebound double double for Kennedy Woepking. Garza had 10 points. WACO got 14 points from Brenna Graber. Columbus is back at .500 in the Superconference at 4-4 and 4-5 overall. WACO drops to 1-6 in each.

The nightcap was tight for the first half before the Warrior boys pulled away for a 67-44 win. A back and forth first 16 minutes saw WACO on top at the break 29-26. The Warriors found another gear out of half, scoring 14 straight. The third quarter would go their way 24-6 and the Wildcats were not able to threaten down the stretch. Live on the postgame show, Warrior of the Game Hayden Shelman talked with KCII Sports about the win. “Coach said, ‘get the ball in my hands, they can’t stay in front of me that well’ , and I just kind of took it over from there. I made a few shots, got us some layups, and the momentum built on to that. (The key was to) be patient. They like to try to block your shot so just go up with a little pump fake, be patient and score the ball. We had all of the momentum coming after halftime. It was awesome to get on a roll against a really good team. Defensively, we started to lock in and then we got some shots to fall. Our effort was up and intensity was higher. I like how we got everybody involved. We had really good ball movement.”

The Warriors won turnovers 21-13 and rebounding by 12. Shelman was the offensive leader with 21 points, Holden Hughes scored 14 and Kellen Shelman 10. Ellis Hills-Carrier put up 17 for Columbus and Drake Marin added 14. The Warrior boys stand at 5-2 overall, 5-1 in conference as Columbus drops to 4-4 on the year and 3-4 in Superconference play.