LONE TREE

There was no shortage of scoring in this contest between Southeast Iowa Super Conference foes, as both the Lions and the Falcons ended the night posting a season high point total.

Despite a valiant comeback by Lone Tree in the second half, the Falcons’ offense proved to be too potent as they defeated the Lions, 88-75 on Jan. 23 to secure the season sweep. 

   This is the second time this season Louisa-Muscatine has scored over 80 points and with this win they improve its conference record to 6-5. 

For Lone Tree this is the most points they have allowed this season, but it was the first time they surpassed 70 points in a game. 

Louisa-Muscatine took control of this game early, taking a 23-11 lead after the first quarter. They continued to put up points, scoring 21 in the second frame, but the Lions were able to win the quarter by scoring 24 to keep themself within striking distance of a comeback. 

In the second frame the Lions faced a deficit as great as 17 but a strong run to end the quarter plus a 9-0 run to open the third quarter managed to tie the game at 44-44 a piece. 

This was Lone Tree’s chance to take their first lead of the contest, but the Falcons shut the door on that possibility, ending the quarter by outscoring Lone Tree 18-10. 

With the lead in hand the Falcons scored 26 in the final frame, their quarter high. Lone Tree also scored over 20 in the fourth quarter, but not being able to slow down Louisa-Muscatine’s offense proved to be the difference in this contest. 

The Falcons’ offensive explosion was led by two players scoring over 20. 

Leading all scorers was senior Ty Northup who scored 28 and led the team in assists with five. Procuring a double-double was junior Finnegan Cline who scored 21 and collected 11 rebounds. 

The Lions had four players hit double digits in points. Leading the way was senior Ethan Bockelman who scored a team high 16 points. 

Columbus 70, Lone Tree 61

The Lions went on the road with an opportunity to complete a season sweep of the Wildcats, but Columbus stood tall on their home court and collected a conference win on their senior night on Jan. 25. 

The 70 points the Wildcats scored was their season high. 

Fitting for senior night, Columbus senior Tim Hill-Carrier led the Wildcats with 22 points while also collecting eight rebounds and dishing out a team high seven assists. 

At half this was anybody’s game with Columbus leading Lone Tree, 27-26, but the Wildcats scored a quarter high 26 points in the third frame to enter the final frame with a 13-point lead, a lead they were able to hold until the final buzzer. 

Pekin 66, Lone Tree 55

Continuing to battle conference opponents on the road, the Lions paid a visit to Packwood to face off against the Pekin Panthers on Jan. 26. 

After defeating Lone Tree earlier this season the Panthers were able to sweep the Lions with this win at home. For Lone Tree this defeat extends its losing streak to eight in a row. 

Pekin nearly scored 20 in the first two quarters leading to the Lions facing a 20-point deficit at the half. While Lone Tree won the second half by scoring 19 in the third and fourth quarter the deficit was too great for the Lions to overcome. 

Sophomore Reece Holbrook ended the game with 20 points to lead Lone Tree in the scoring department. 

Fellow sophomore Emmett Burke secured a double-double in this conference game, scoring 16 and securing 13 rebounds. 

Wapello 75, Lone Tree 64

In their final road game of the regular season the Lions were defeated by the Wapello Indians on their senior night on Jan. 29. 

Both teams got off to a hot start offensively in this game with Lone Tree and Wapello both scoring over 20 in the first frame. After another closely contested quarter, the Lions found themselves trailing by six at halftime. 

Wapello scored 22 in the third frame to push their lead to 17 with only one quarter left to play. The Lions were able to outscore Wapello in the final frame, but their comeback came up short. 

Leading Wapello on senior night was senior Jackson Lanz. The first time these two teams played each other this season Lanz scored 41 but he was able to one up that performance by scoring 47 this time around. He also collected 16 rebounds to secure a double-double. 

The Lions stayed home to battle the WACO Warriors (12-4) on Jan. 30. Up next for Lone Tree (6-13) is a home matchup against the conference leading Winfield-Mt Union Wolves (14-1) on Feb. 6.