The Highland Huskies and WACO Warriors will face off in Highland for the second go-around in conference play, as the weeks wind down on the regular season.

WACO’s girls will try to become the first team this season to knock off the Huskies in conference play tonight, but they’ll need to power past a three-game losing streak to do so. The Warriors are 7-10 this season, and 4-9 in the SEISC-North. Despite their losing record, WACO is outscoring their opponents this season, averaging 47.3 points per game while allowing only 44. A large part of that is due to the team’s struggles in close games. Last week, the Warriors took a 56-53 loss to Sigourney, and a 52-50 loss to Hillcrest Academy.

WACO is often lead by their juniors, including leading scorer Brenna Graber. Fellow juniors Drew Graber, Courtney Waterhouse, Carlee Lunsford, and Madelyn Farmer can also be relied upon to score when needed. Farmer, Lunsford, and the elder Grabers are also the team’s leading rebounders. Yet another junior, Ava Wagler, has enjoyed a good run of form and is starting to climb the ranks in both scoring and rebounding.

Highland, meanwhile, has been the cream of the crop in the SEISC-North this season. The Huskies are undefeated within the conference, with all of their losses coming in non-conference play. The Huskies have defeated conference opponents this season by an average of 22.5 points, and force just under 20 turnovers a game.

Sophomore Kamyrn Fink continues to be the focal point of Highland’s game, averaging 15.2 points per game, and 11.8 rebounds per game as well. Fink’s rebounding numbers put her 16th in the entire state of Iowa, and tenth in Class 1A. The Huskies are not bound to Fink for offensive production, however. Junior Katelyn Thomann averages 8.9 points per game, and fellow junior Hailey Brun averages 8.4. Brun was also the leading scorer in Highland’s most recent game against Wapello, where she scored 15 of the Huskies’ 52 points.

Highland’s girls lead the series 16-10 since 2008, with a winning streak of two games going back to last season. Earlier this season, Highland defeated WACO 52-43 behind 20 points from Fink. Waterhouse led WACO in that outing, picking up 13.

WACO’s boys will also try to shake off a losing streak, having dropped their last two to fall to 8-8 on the season. Last week, the Warriors faced off against two strong opponents in Sigourney and the SEISC-North leaders in Hillcrest Academy. For the game against Sigourney, WACO played without their leading scorer, Holden Hughes. WACO still sits fourth in the conference with a solid 8-4 record, but will need wins down in the last few weeks if they want to challenge for one of the top three spots.

Hughes, as mentioned, is the team’s leading scorer at 16.1 points per game, with Hayden Shelman and Kellen Shelman behind him at 11.1 and 8.9 points a night respectively. Hughes also leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 boards a game. WACO also shoots just over 40% from the field as a team, a high percentage that has helped the Warriors in their wins.

Highland is 2-14 this year, and just 2-11 in the SEISC-North. The Huskies have lost six straight coming into tonight, with their last win coming January 6th against Lone Tree. Highland has spent plenty of time on the bus as of late, with tonight’s contest being their sixth away game in seven games. The main problem for the Huskies this season has been giving up too many points, with opposing offenses averaging nearly 70 points a game against them, while only scoring just over 45 a night.

Junior Landon Roling and Bryce Hazelett are the primary scoring options for Highland, with the former averaging 14.1 points per game and the latter averaging 13.9. Roling also handles a lot of the rebounding duties, while Hazelett spreads the ball around and leads the team in assists.

WACO’s boys leads the series 15-9 since 2006. Earlier this season, WACO defeated Highland 59-31, running away with the contest following a 24-9 first quarter. Hayden Shelman led the Warriors with 15 points, while Presten Smith led the Huskies with 12.

Tonight’s doubleheader can be heard on FM106.1, the KCII1 app, and kciiradio.com. Pregame starts at 5:30 p.m. with the tipoff of the girls game at 6. The boys will follow after the conclusion of the girls’ contest.