It wasn’t always a work of art, but the WACO Warriors slugged their way to a pair of conference basketball wins last night over Louisa-Muscatine. In the girls’ game, WACO actually trailed by four in the first quarter, but a 14-2 run to end the first half put the Warriors up 22-14 at the break, and stingy defense from there allowed them to pull away for a 38-19 victory. Seniors Ellah Kissell and Grace Coble again led the Warrior offense with 14 and 10 points, respectively. WACO is now 8-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play.

The WACO boys, ranked fifth in the state in Class 1A, had a little less trouble preserving their unbeaten start to the season. But the Warriors really didn’t take off until they put up 24 points in the second quarter, creating a 41-17 lead they would never come close to relinquishing in a 66-33 victory. Junior guard Hunter Hughes was again the star of the show by pouring in a game-high 21 points to help 9-0 WACO stay atop the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North. Both Warrior teams will next be in action Friday at Pekin.