The Van Buren County Warriors girls basketball team dominated Columbus 62-37 on Thursday night at Louisa-Muscatine High School in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference Shootout, setting up a third meeting between the two teams in less than a month.
The game, which matched up the four seeds from each division of the conference, saw the Warriors take control early and never look back, improving their season record to 14-7.
Game Recap
Van Buren County established dominance in the first quarter, holding an 8-7 lead with 3:06 remaining before shutting down Columbus completely. The Wildcats failed to score for the remainder of the quarter, allowing the Warriors to build an 18-7 advantage.
Columbus attempted a comeback in the second quarter when trailing 29-11 with 3:11 left. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 10 points at 29-19 with 1:27 remaining, but Van Buren County responded decisively and held a 33-20 lead at halftime with a demolishing press defense that saw multiple forced turnovers for the Wildcats.
The Warriors extended their lead to 47-31 after three quarters before cruising to the final 62-37 victory.
Individual Performances
Adalyn Snowgren led Van Buren County with an impressive all-around performance with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Marlee Mertens added 18 points, 1 assist, and 1 block. Sophia Jirak contributed 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. Daphny Wells posted 5 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Ali Pedretti also chipped in 5 points and 1 steal off the bench.
Kayley Snowgren recorded 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Aubrey Loeffler grabbed 2 rebounds and had 1 steal. Elli Daugherty added 2 rebounds. Also seeing action for the Warriors were Ava Loeffler, Macolie McEntee, Maddie Cocherell, and Chloe Keefe.
Columbus was led by Kennedy Woepking’s 20 points.
Team Statistics
Van Buren County shot 21-57 from the field (36.8%), 9-37 from three-point range (24.3%), and 11-17 from the free-throw line (64.7%). The Warriors grabbed 30 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, recorded 18 steals, had one block, committed 10 fouls, and turned the ball over 13 times.
Columbus shot 13-50 from the field (26.0%), 4-18 from three-point range (22.2%), and 7-13 from the free-throw line (53.8%). The Wildcats pulled down 34 rebounds, had four assists, recorded seven steals, had zero blocks, committed 17 fouls, and turned the ball over 23 times.
Coach’s Comments
“I thought we played one of our better games on Thursday,” said Van Buren County head coach Randy Smith. “Our defense was good and again we had multiple girls in double figures. We have beat Columbus twice so we know we can beat them but we sure can’t overlook them. If we win on Saturday, then we will concentrate on Iowa City Regina. We have had a really good year and want to continue playing at our best this time of year.”
Looking Ahead: Regional Rematch
The Warriors (14-7) will host Columbus (10-10) for the third time this season on Saturday, February 14th, in a Class 2A Region 8 contest. Van Buren County defeated Columbus 47-41 at Columbus on January 19th before Thursday’s 25-point victory.
The Warriors have no games scheduled between the February 5th Shootout and the February 14th regional matchup, meaning they’ll face Columbus in back-to-back games.
If Van Buren County advances, they would travel to face #10-ranked Iowa City Regina (15-4). Also on their side of the bracket are conference opponents Danville (13-5) and West Burlington (11-9).
The top half of the bracket features #8 Grundy Center (17-2) facing the winner of South Hardin (8-10) and Union Community (5-12), along with Hudson (12-5) and Jesup (12-7).
The Warriors finished their regular season with a 14-7 overall record and a 9-5 conference mark, placing fourth in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference.
