On Monday, Columbus boys and girls split vs Van Buren. The girls got a big 43-35 win over Van Buren. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead, but were only up four, 12-8. In the second, Van Buren would take the lead 23-21 going into half after scoring 15. Despite the lead, the Wildcats forced 16 of the 19 turnovers in the first half that would come black to haunt the Warriors. In the third, Columbus would retake the lead 37-29. In the fourth, Columbus would hold on to beat Van Buren. Van Buren would end up edging out Columbus in rebounding department 37-34. Columbus shot 66% from the free throw line, which helped down the road to seal the win over Van Buren. The Wildcats would end up having more fouls than the Warriors 19-14. The Wildcats were led by Lilly Coil who had 17 points. Coil would drop eight points in the third quarter alone, but ended up fouling out in the fourth. While she was out, Isabel Rendon steadied the ship for Columbus. Coil finished the game with 17 and Rendon had 15 points in the victory.
After the game, Isabel Rendon joined KCII Sports to talk about their victory over Van Buren. “Facing adversity, we face it every game. I think coming out in the fourth and facing it out really strong was the key. Our strategy is to force a lot of turnovers. That’s how we show that we want the ball and we want to win. Before the game, confidence was going through my head. Confidence is such a big thing. You just have to believe that you’re here to do what you know how to do”.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 14-2 on the season and 11-1 in the conference. They now have a three game lead on Lone Tree for top spot in the SEISC-North.
On the boys side, Columbus fell to Van Buren 72-60. In the first quarter, it was a defensive battle as both teams only scored 11 points. But in the second, everything changed. Both teams would go on a tear on the offensive side as the two teams would combine for 43 points. The Warriors would take the lead 38-27 going into half. In the third, Columbus would trim the lead 46-42. However, late in the third quarter, the Wildcats turned the ball over multiple times, which led to easy baskets for the Warriors. Late in the third quarter, Van Buren went on a 19-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game. Columbus would battle back, but it was too late. Van Buren would hold on to win 72-60. Columbus turned the ball over 15 times, with 7 of the giveaways coming in the third quarter. Columbus did win the rebounding battle 39-33. Ellis Hills-Carrier for Columbus had the game of his life and had 37 points. With the loss, Columbus falls to 6-9 overall and 4-7 in the conference.