************UPDATE: THESE GAMES HAVE BEEN POSTPONED************
After a weather-related hiatus, the KCII Area Game of the Week makes its return Thursday night with Sigourney basketball hosting WACO for a boy-girl doubleheader.
At 8-4, the Sigourney girls are second in the South Iowa Cedar, behind just English Valleys. While they ride a two-game win streak into tonight’s matchup, their last game action was January 6. The Savages beat Pekin 49-28 behind 13 from McKinley Chittick and 12 from Ava Fisch. Sigouney held the Panthers to just nine points into the fourth quarter, including a shutout in the third. Defense has been a point of pride for this group, allowing 32 points per game while scoring over 44. Sigourney is shooting 32 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from deep. Only 12 teams have taken more trips to the free throw line than the Savages, who are 54 percent from the stripe. Per game, Sigourney is averaging over 31 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 steals, and two blocks.
WACO’s girls arrive in Sigourney 6-6 and fourth in the Superconference north at 6-3. The Warriors had won two in a row to start the new year before falling to Iowa Valley last Thursday, 57-35. WACO scored just 13 second-half points in the loss as the offense struggled to get it going. When the Warrior offense clicks, it’s usually Emma Wagler playing a big role. Wagler leads the team with 157 points and enters tonight’s contest averaging a double-double. Shooting 31.7 percent from the floor, WACO scores nearly 43 points per game while allowing 44. Sigourney holds a slight edge over the Warriors in most statistical categories, but the WACO girls have history on their side, taking the last two meetings between the programs.
The Sigourney boys are hoping to springboard off their win over Pekin, which put them back over .500 and into third in the South Iowa Cedar East. In their last game nearly two weeks ago, the Savages kept it close against the Panthers, before a 29-point third quarter that featured seven three pointers. Solon Yates and Ike Molyneux both went for double figures for a Sigourney team that shot 57 percent from deep. On the season, the Savages score nearly 60 points per night and allow just over 50 to go along with 32 rebounds, 13 assists, 11 steals, and five blocks.
They welcome a WACO boys team that has won two in a row and six of its last seven. It’s been even longer since the Warriors last game which they won over Pekin a day before Sigourney did. Hunter Hughes went for 18 points and 11 boards in the victory, while Colton Leichty joined him in double figures. Hughes has been valuable on the defensive side as well, currently with the fifth-most steals in his class. The Warriors score 58.7 points per night and allow 42.5. They hold the edge on the Savages in field goal and free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, and steals with Sigourney averaging nearly two more blocks per game. The Warriors have taken six of seven from the Savages, the most recent an 82-35 blowout in December 2022.
Listen to these non-conference foes square off on the KCII3 Stream, available at KCIIradio.com. Coverage begins with the pregame show at 5:30, tip of the girls at 6, and the boys to follow live from Sigourney.