Friday, the WACO Warrior boys and girls basketball teams hosted the Pekin Panthers at Bob Hilmer Court in Wayland for a Southeast Iowa Superconference doubleheader. The Warrior boys were a 61-55 winner in their season opener. WACO used a 19-7 first quarter to jump out to an early lead and found themselves on top 32-16 at half. Pekin got back in, winning the third quarter 24-14, but the Warriors did enough down the stretch to hold off the Panthers for the win. WACO shot 50% to Pekin’s 42% winning rebounds 32-18, and assists 12-9. The Panthers won steals 16-12 and turnovers 21-11. Holden Hughes went double double in the WACO win with 20 points and 12 boards. Hayden Shelman added 11 points and Sam Meyer 10 points and four steals. Niles Reichenbach had five assists.

The Warrior girls were on the wrong end of a 53-47 count. They trailed 14-12 after one, and a Pekin run of 16-6 that lasted the full second quarter, put them down 30-18 going to half. The Warriors outscored the Panthers 29-23 after break, including 16-7 in the fourth but couldn’t complete the comeback. Pekin shot 41% to WACO’s 37%, they were outrebounded 36-22, won steals 13-10 and turnovers 31-21. Brenna Graber’s 14 points led the Warriors, with Carlee Lunsford scoring 10. Graber also led with five boards and four assists. WACO fell to 0-2 with the loss while Pekin climbs to 3-0.