The ACGC girls' and boys' basketball teams opened conference play last night and came away with a spit at Madrid, with the girls claiming a 51-36 win and the boys falling to a hot shooting Madrid team, 77-61.

A solid offensive performance was the main factor in the win for the Charger girls, as they connected on 45% of their field goal attempts, making twenty of forty four tries that included four of thirteen makes from beyond the three point arc. The team also connected on seven of eight tries from the free throw line, while committing a respectable thirteen turnovers for the game.

ACGC outscored the hosts in every quarter while building a twenty two point lead in the third quarter, only to the see the Tigers knock down several treys to cut their deficit to twelve points. The Chargers stopped the Madrid run, regained their poise as the game wound down, and came home with the fifteen point win.

Kennedy Young and Alaina Bunde both scored in double figures for ACGC, netting seventeen and fourteen points respectively. Young managed a double double for the night as she snared eleven rebounds to go along with her seventeen points. The team came up with fifteen assists, with EmmaKay McClain dishing out four. The win evens the team's record at 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in WCAC play.

For Charger mentor Brad Baudler the win was his first as a head coach. "For our second game, we were a completely different team in a positive way," the Charger coach commented following the game. "The girls are learning how to play smarter basketball and it is showing. We need to find the shooter a little faster defensively, but that will come with practice. I am very proud of the ability of my players to adjust and absorb knowledge. Finally, our posts had monster games and made life tough on the inside. Good first win."

A disastrous second quarter for the Chargers was the difference in the boys' game. While Madrid was red hot in the first quarter, making five three pointers and six of six from the free throw line, ACGC was down only 25-18 after the first stanza. With the Tigers leading 31-22 after Quynton Younker's basket with 6:30 to go until halftime, the hosts outscored the Chargers 19-2 to go into the break with an insurmountable 50-24 lead. ACGC hit three of seventeen shots in the quarter that included nine consecutive three point misses.

The Chargers played a very respectable second half as they outscored the Tigers 37-27, but the damage was done by halftime. Madrid shot well for the game, connecting on 23 of 48 field goals for just under 50% and 21 of 29 from the charity stripe. The Tigers made 10 of 22 three pointers.

The Chargers were 24 of 61 from the floor for 39%, including 6 of 25 from three point land. The connected on 7 of 12 from the free throw line. Younker came up with a double double, as he netted twenty two points and ten rebounds. Bryce Littler led the Charger scoring with twenty six. Eli Kading led the team in assists with five. No one had more than two steals. Both teams committed just seven turnovers for the game.

Although his team dropped its season opener, head coach Lance Kading saw some positives in his team's play. "Some early foul trouble and relying on quick outside shooting dug ourselves a sizable hole in the first half. Most of our perimeter shots were good looks, but we didn't really put any stress on their defense. At halftime we talked about attacking the inside of their zone at the high post and short corner and penetrating the zone defense to make the defense work harder. I thought we handled their pressure well. I can't recall a game with fewer turnovers. I liked our effort and resilience. In years past a twenty six point halftime deficit would have ended in a forty point loss. We learned some tough lessons tonight, but the mood in the locker room was that of determination and eagerness to get back to work on Monday."

The teams will continue play on the road on Tuesday when they will travel to Urbandale to take on the Des Moines Christian Lions. The girls game is scheduled for 6 PM with the boys' game to follow. Go Chargers!

Girls' score by quarter: Boys' score by quarter:

ACGC 15 11 18 7--51 ACGC 18 6 18 19--61

Madrid 11 4 15 6--36 Madrid 25 25 14 13--77

REB REB

FG 3Pt FT O-D AST STL TP FG 3Pt FT O-D AST STL TP

Campbell 1-4 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 EKading 2-7 1-4 0-1 1-3 5 1 5

Dorsey 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-2 3 0 0 BMarsh 0-2 0-0 0-1 0-1 1 0 0

Hoover 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-1 3 1 0 Crawford 0-2 0-2 0-0 1-0 2 0 0

KyYoung 1-3 0-1 2-2 0-0 1 1 4 LMarsh 3-9 2-6 0-0 3-2 3 2 8

McClain 3-6 0-1 2-2 1-2 4 4 8 MKading 0-5 0-5 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Bunde 7-12 0-0 0-0 2-3 0 1 14 Littler 10-21 2-6 4-5 2-1 3 1 26

O'Brien 1-2 1-2 2-2 1-0 1 2 5 Younker 9-15 1-2 3-5 3-7 2 0 22

KeYoung 7-14 2-4 1-2 4-7 2 2 17