Coming into this game riding a five-game winning streak, the Lady Lions met its match against the team that resides one spot above them in the super conference standings, the Warriors. WACO, on its home court, was able to snap Lone Tree’s impressive win streak with a 60-45 victory on January 31.

With this win WACO extended its winning streak to four games in a row and now possess a 16-3 record on the season. 

This win also gave them a 13-2 record in conference play with its only losses coming from the team who is leading the conference with an undefeated record, Winfield-Mount Union. 

After the first quarter ended, Lone Tree found themselves trailing 15-9, and this lead for WACO only grew after the second quarter began with an 11-2 run, but the Lions would nearly return the favor by ending the quarter with a 10-1 run.

“Our defense really picked up and we played with much more intensity on that end of the floor,” Lone Tree head coach Ryan Shelman said about how his team played to close out the second quarter. “We also were able to break down their defense and became much more aggressive with our dribble drive and shooters were able to knock down some shots.” 

The scoring for Lone Tree during this impressive run in the second quarter, started when senior Riley Krueger made a shot from three point range and this was followed up by a two-point basket from freshman Finley Jacque.

Another shot from three point land was nicely made for the Lady Lions by sophomore Vivian Zaruba. Then, after a nifty pass from a teammate, sophomore Cate Sexton was able to make a close range basket. Both teams scored 12 points in the second quarter giving WACO a six point lead heading into halftime.

It was pretty even keeled to start the third quarter. 

Both teams scored six points, three points from sophomore Rylee Shield and three points from Jacque for Lone Tree, but WACO wasn’t ready to give up its lead. 

As the quarter winded down the Warriors were ultimately able to outscore the Lady Lions 14-12, and took an eight point advantage going into the final quarter. 

Staying consistent, Lone Tree scored 12 points in its third straight quarter. 

The first two points of the final frame came from Sexton after a nifty pass from Jacque. This was followed by six straight points from the Warriors, giving them a 12 point lead. 

“[WACO] were able to get the ball in deep on our defense which allowed them to get points in the paint,” Shelman said about the fourth quarter. “Foul trouble kind of hindered us late, especially in the front court. [WACO] does a nice job and their seniors have played well together for a long time.” 

The closest the score got again in the fourth quarter was when Krueger made a three point shot just before the shot clock went off to cut WACO’s lead to seven.

After Krueger’s three the Warriors went on a 8-2 run to close the game and secure a 15 point win over a conference opponent. 

“We are young and have to learn how to finish off comebacks and not allow ourselves to dig ourselves in too big of a hole early in the ball game,” Shelman said. “However our girls played hard all night and battled through adversity. I told our girls I was proud of them and that we are still learning. Still a lot of basketball in front of us and I still like how we are playing to finish off the season,” Shelman said.    

Leading the Lions in the scoring department on the night was Jacque with 14 points. Jacque nabbed five rebounds and was able to steal the ball three times. 

All of the scoring for WACO came from four players with two of them, seniors Grace Coble and Ellah Kissell, scoring 19 points each. 

GAME STATS

Lone Tree 45, WACO 60

Lone Tree

       9      12      12        12    --  45

WACO 

      15     12      14        19    --  60

Lone Tree Scoring: Finley Jacque 14, Vivian Zaruba 10, Riley Krueger 8

WACO Scoring: Grace Coble 19, Ellah Kissell 19, Emma Wagler 12, Katie Leichty 10.

Lone Tree Rebounding Leaders: Jacque 5, Zaruba 5, Rylee Shield 5.

Lone Tree 59, Wapello 28

Not letting up on the defensive or offensive department, the Lions built a massive halftime lead on its home court, overwhelming Wapello, resulting in a 59-28 victory for Lone Tree.

Holding Wapello to just two points in the first quarter, the Lions were able to put up 21 points to take a 19 point lead after one quarter of play. 

Wapello doubled its scoring output in the second quarter, scoring four points, but Lone Tree, not relenting one bit, scored 27 more points before halftime. At halftime the Lions held a seemingly insurmountable 42 point lead. 

Slowing down in the scoring department, Lone Tree was outscored in the second half by Wapello 22-11, but the massive lead the Lions built was never in any real danger of being conquered.  

This 31 point win raised Lone Tree’s regular season record to 13-7 and increased its conference play record to 11-5. 

Lone Tree senior Riley Krueger was the star of the night for the Lady Lions. Scoring 26 points, connecting on four three-pointers, and sinking in all four of her shots from the free throw line Krueger was a juggernaut in the offense department against Wapello.  

The Lady Lions will stay at home to play in a postseason game against Midland (9-12) on February 9.

GAME STATS

Lone Tree

      21     27        6        5    --  59

Wapello 

        2       4      14        8    --  28

Lone Tree Scoring: Riley Krueger 26, Finley Jacque 17, Rylee Shield 4, Alyson Ford 4.

Wapello Scoring: Jacie Hoeg 11, Rachel Hoeg 7, Madelyn Lanz 5.

Lone Tree Rebounding Leaders: Ford 9, Vivian Zaruba 7, Jacque 6