The Columbus Wildcats couldn’t corral a pair of basketball wins on the road last night at Central Lee. In the girls’ game, Columbus was down by 15 after the first quarter and could never recover, falling 68-32. Wildcat senior Sara Vela had a team-high 10 points, while sophomore Ariana Vergara scored eight, but allowing the Hawks to hit eight three-pointers as a team was a fatal blow, as Columbus drops to 4-5.

The boys’ contest was actually much closer than the final score would indicate, as the Wildcats were tied at 12 after one quarter of play and only trailed by a single point at halftime. The deficit never grew to more than three through three periods, but Central Lee exploded on offense in the final eight minutes to pull away and win 68-48. Despite a valiant effort, Columbus falls to 1-8. Both Wildcat teams are off until they visit Van Buren County on January 5th.