The Columbus Wildcats swept a home basketball doubleheader last night against New London. Despite trailing 10-0 in the first three minutes, the Columbus girls responded in a big way, finishing the first half on a 29-6 run to take a double-digit lead into the locker room and dominating even further in the second half of a 63-30 victory.
Columbus was led in the scoring department by 14 points each from senior Ariana Vergara and junior Isabel Rendon, while senior Aracely Garza hit three three-point shots and had 11 points to help the Wildcats improve to 7-1. After the game, head coach Kasey Keltner told KCII Sports that, once his team settled in, there would not be much to slow them down.
“Credit to our kids,” Keltner says. “We just kept playing. That’s one thing that we’ve tried to emphasize with them. It’s a four-quarter game, and I think we’re pretty good over four quarters.”
Columbus jumped out to the initial 15-12 lead in the boys’ game, but the second quarter is where they took control courtesy of Ellis Hills-Carrier. The sophomore exploded for three made three-pointers and 15 total points in the second period alone to put the Wildcats up by 12 at halftime.
New London would make a push and get as close as four in the second half, but Hills-Carrier was unstoppable, finishing the night with a game-high 34 points to help Columbus win 59-49. Head coach Marcus Hall marveled at the performance after the game with KCII Sports.
“Ellis is our engine that makes it go,” Hall said. “I thought he played a really good floor game tonight [and] gave it up when he needed to. He’s a gamer. [I have] just been more and more impressed with how he approaches games [and] how he approaches tight moments, and to see him perform like that was definitely a boost for our team.”
Sophomore Fritz Figaro added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench for the ‘Cats, while senior starter Juan Chairez had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. The victory raises Columbus’ record to 3-4. Both Wildcat teams play again later tonight against Wapello.