The Columbus Wildcats played host to the WACO Warriors Friday night in the KCII Area Game of the Week.

Columbus took the girls matchup 61-43, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Warriors entering the night. A defense that had 16 steals overall caused early fits for WACO, and had the Wildcats up four after one quarter of play. This lead grew to 10 at the break, after Columbus held WACO to just seven points in the second. It was the usual suspects getting it done for Columbus on offense, with nine first-half points for Ariana Vergara and eight for Frannie Sosa. Out of the break, Lily Coil and Aracely Garza took over for the Wildcats. Garza hit all four of her field goals in the last two quarters, while Coil dropped eight in the fourth quarter, leading all scorers with 19. WACO’s Emma Wagler had a strong second-half as well, ending the night with 17, but continued pressure from Columbus made the gap too much to overcome. The win improves Columbus to 5-1, their best start to a season in more than 15 years. They travel to Wapello on Tuesday, while the 2-3 Warriors face off with Danville Saturday.

In the second game of the doubleheader, it was the WACO boys jumping up front and powering their way to a 77-33 win. Much like the Columbus girls in game one, back-court harassment from the Warriors led to some easy buckets and took them into the second leading by 11. Double-digit points in the first half from Hunter Hughes, Reece Oswald, and Colton Leichty widened that gap, with more to come in the third quarter. Hughes exploded in the frame, recording 20 of his game-high 39 points to seemingly put Columbus to bed. On the other end of the floor, Tim Hills-Carrier managed 12 for the Wildcats, despite facing foul trouble for the entire second half. Now 0-5, Columbus looks to get in the win column Tuesday at Wapello. WACO, meanwhile has the opportunity to keep climbing the Superconference standings with games against Highland and Hillcrest next week.

The games were heard on the KCII3 Stream, available at KCIIradio.com. The Area Game of the Week makes its return Friday with the WACO Warriors on the road at Hillcrest Academy.