The Columbus Community basketball teams were back in action on Friday falling to Pekin in both games.

In the girls’ game, the one loss Panthers proved to be too much for the Wildcats as they jumped out to a 33-9 halftime lead and never looked back from there. The Panthers came out with a 54-23 win. Maci Gambell was a big reason why the Panthers found so much success, finishing with a game-high 24 points. Courtney Zaehringer finished the night with eight points to lead the Wildcats and Anna Hamilton had four. After the loss the Wildcats fall to 1-6 on the year.

Much like the girls, the Columbus boys could not crawl out of a first half deficit, as they fell to the Panthers 55-31. The battle for the boards is where Pekin won this one, out rebounding the Wildcats 38-13. The Panthers had balance scoring led by Caleb Comstock with 12 points. Tommy Pretz led Columbus Community with nine points on four of nine shooting. The Wildcats fall to 0-7 on the year.

Columbus gets back at it tomorrow traveling to Mediapolis.