It was the yearly Henry County rivalry showdown in Wayland on Saturday with the WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union basketball teams splitting a doubleheader. 

The defense was on full display for the WMU girls when they kept the Warriors to single digits in every quarter and emerged victorious 52-25. Bradie Buffington and Melina Oepping handled the boards with 14 and 13, respectively including Buffington leading all scorers with 17 points. Ellah Kissell had 13 to lead the home Warriors. The win for WMU followed a 70-24 beatdown of Wapello the night prior where they also kept the Arrows to single digits in every quarter. The team was plus 26 rebounding in that game with four players in double figures including Buffington with 19, Jobey Malone with 14, Keely Malone with 10, and Keetyn Townsley with 10. That was head coach Mitch Wachs’ 400th win of his career. The Wolves now sit at 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the SEISC. WACO fell to West Burlington on Friday 59-40 despite a 13 point effort from Emma Wagler. The Warriors are now 5-4 and 2-3 in the league. 

The highly anticipated boys game on Saturday saw WACO deliver WMU their first loss of the season in a 49-41 final score. The game was tight throughout with the Warriors holding a slight 14-12 lead after one, but the Wolves led 27-23 at the break. Clamping down defensively in the third was the difference in a 13-2 quarter for the Warriors that helped pave the way to the eight-point win. The home squad turned it over just six times and had three players in double figures with Hunter Hughes finishing with 12 points, Colton Leichty having 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Simeon Reichenbach managed 10 points. Cam Buffington led WMU with 10 and Konner Wade had nine. WACO lost to West Burlington on Friday by a 63-49 count with Mason Miller’s 13 points pacing them. They are now 6-2 and 3-2 in the conference. WMU downed Wapello on Friday while shooting 59% as a team and Cam Buffington put up 26 points while Abram Edwards had 10. The Wolves now sit at 6-1 and 5-0 in the north division.