One could tell that the Charger basketball teams hadn't played for a while--two weeks to be exact--as it took a while for both the girls' and boys' teams to get rolling after the long holiday break, but in the end both teams came away with home wins over West Central Valley last night. The Charger girls topped the Wildcats 54-44 in a game than wasn't decided until the final four minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the boys took a quarter to get rolling before winning in convincing fashion over the visitors, 73-34.

The Lady Wildcats came into last night's game with a 5-3 season record, including a 3-1 mark in the WCAC, good for a tie for second place in the standings. The Chargers were right behind with a 3-2 record in conference play. So, it should have been no surprise that this was going to be a hotly contested affair.

The early going was indicative of how the game would play out, as the teams traded baskets to an 11-11 tie after the opening quarter. Both teams struggled to get into a flow, with the defensive intensity causing numerous turnovers for both teams. By halftime WCV had assumed a two point lead at 21-19, with the Charges connecting on only three of thirteen field goal attempts in the second quarter . Shooting percentages for the first half indicate how both teams struggled to find the target--WCC shot 31% while ACGC was at 35%. The Chargers went for six minutes without scoring, falling behind 20-13 with a minute and half to go before the break. Freshman Saige O'Brien's trey ended the drought and Kyle Young followed with her own long ball to enable the Chargers to pull within 21-19 at halftime.

ACGC started the second half with a flurry, scoring on its first four possessions to take a 27-21 lead. But then the Charger guns went silent for over two minutes and the Wildcats clawed their way back to close the gap to 27-25. The last half of the quarter saw the locals pick up the scoring pace once again, netting ten points in the four minute span to take a 37-31 lead after the third quarter. Five different Chargers scored during the productive eighteen point quarter.

The Wildcats again took advantage of another Charger drought in the first half of the final stanza, outscoring the locals 5-0 to narrow the margin to 37-36 with just under five minutes to go. O'Brien ended the nearly four minute Charger dry spell with her second three ball to give ACGC a 40-36 lead. After Alaina Bunde sank a pair of free throws, O'Brien hit third trey of the night to increase the lead to 45-36. The teams essentially traded scores the rest of the way to enable the home team to prevail in the end, 54-44.

Balanced scoring helped the Chargers pull this one out, with three players scoring in double figures including Kylie Young with thirteen points, and EmmaKay McClain and O'Brien each coming up with eleven points. Bunde managed eight scores with Kennedy Young and Kendra Campbell netting six and five points respectively. Bunde came up with ten rebounds to lead the team, while McClain led in assists with seven and Kennnedy Young in steals with six.

An interesting shooting statistic presents itself as the Chargers shot better from beyond the arc than on their two point tries. The team made eight of fifteen three pointers for 53% and connected on just twelve of thirty four deuces for 35%. Overall shooting was 41%. Free throw shooing was some of the best of the season, as the team made six of seven tries for 86%.

"I thought our running game was better tonight," Charger coach Brad Baudler stated. "Our three point shooting was better tonight and I think changing up our presses bothered them. It helped that we came out more aggressively after the half. Different girls came through for us tonight. A good win."

The hard fought win improves the season record to five wins and three losses, with the WCAC mark standing at 3-2.

Even before the boys' teams took the floor, there was little double as to the outcome, as the WCV team came into the game with a twenty seven game losing streak in WCAC games, and a lone non-conference victory over a winless Southeast Warren team to start the season.

Be that as it may, it took a while for the Chargers to get going, as they struggled to an 11-9 lead after the first quarter. Things warmed up for the team in the second quarter as it put nineteen points on the board on eight of eighteen shooting, while holding the visitors to six points in the quarter. Six different Chargers scored in the quarter with Quynton Younker pacing the team with six points to give the Chargers a 30-15 lead at the break.

A forty three point second half buried the Wildcats as the Chargers netted twenty three points in the third stanza and an additional twenty in the final frame. Each of the five starters--Younker, Eli and Miles Kading, Lucas Marsh, and Bryce Littler--scored in the third quarter, with Younker coming up with twelve points himself to pace the Chargers to a 53-24 lead after three quarters.

The first thirty seconds of the fourth quarter saw the Chargers miss five consecutive field goal attempts and then connect on their next eight tries! Bryce Littler connected on four consecutive shot attempts during the run. Midway through the quarter both teams had cleared their benches, as ACGC went on to the 73-34 win.

Younker had a big scoring night as he connected on ten of fourteen field goal tries, including two of three from long distance to pace the Charger scoring with twenty two points. Eli Kading and Littler also scored in double figures with fifteen and thirteen points respectively. The trio of Charlie Crawford, Lucas Marsh, and Miles Kading each netted seven points.

Marsh led the team in rebounding with thirteen, while Littler's twelve boards game him a double double on the night. Eli Kading had a good floor game as he led the team in both assists and steals with six of each.

The team shot a respectable 48% on its two point tries, but the long ball was not good to the Chargers last night as they hit on only seven of thirty two tries from beyond the arc for a dismal 22%.

Following the game Charger mentor Lance Kading offered these comments. "This was a good game for us coming out of the break. I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball. We didn't shoot very well, but our defense and rebounding were good. I liked our balanced scoring and rebounding. We did a good job of fast breaking to make it harder for the to set up their zone defense."

The win for the boys is its first in the WCAC and second overall, giving the team a season record of 2-8. Next week is a busy one for both teams, with the boys playing four times, and the girls three times--all on the road. The boys travel to CRB for a J/V doubleheader on Monday. Tuesday the girls and boys will be at Interstate 35; Friday the teams travel to Woodward-Granger; and Saturday afternoon the team play at Exira-Elkhorn Kimballton. A busy week indeed! Go Chargers!

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

WCV 11 10 10 13--44 WCV 9 6 9 10--34

ACGC 11 8 18 17--54 ACGC 11 19 24 19--73

Box score: Box score:

REB

FG 3Pt FT O-D A S TP FG 3Pt FT O-D A S TP

Campbell 2-8 1-4 0-0 1-4 0 0 5 EKading 6-16 3-11 0-1 3-1 6 6 15

Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 BMarsh 1-6 0-0 0-1 3-4 1 0 2

Hoover 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Crawford 2-4 0-1 3-4 1-1 1 5 7

KyYoung 5-10 3-5 0-1 0-2 2 2 13 LMarsh 2-10 0-3 3-5 5-8 2 0 7

McClain 3-9 1-1 4-4 0-2 7 5 11 MKading 2-6 2-6 1-2 1-0 5 2 7

Bunde 3-7 0-0 2-2 0-10 2 2 8 Wardyn 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

O'Brien 4-7 3-5 0-0 0-2 0 1 11 Rogers 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

KeYoung 3-7 0-0 0-0 3-5 4 6 6 BroLittler 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

BryLittler 5-15 0-4 3-6 5-7 3 2 13

Dickson 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Younker 10-14 2-3 0-0 4-4 1 1 22