LONE TREE

Getting to stay at home for their first contest of 2024, the Lions were unable to slow down the sharpshooting of Wapello senior Jackson Lanz, leading to Lone Tree falling to the Indians, 76-43, on Jan. 2.

 Going 18/28 from the field, Lanz delivered a stellar performance on offense, leading all scorers with a season high 41 points. 

This is the first time this season he has scored 40 or more points with his previous season high being 29, a feat he accomplished twice. 

Lanz also led Wapello in two other categories as well, pulling down 14 rebounds to secure a double-double and dishing out seven assists. 

Sophomore Justyn Faulkner was Wapello’s second highest scorer with 19 points. Faulkner also secured a team high eight steals. 

After the first quarter of play the Indians scored 21 to take a 12-point lead. In the third frame Wapello scored over 20 points again to pump up their lead to 35. The Lions were able to win the final quarter, but the deficit was far too great to overcome. 

Lone Tree’s leading scorer was senior Ethan Bockelman. Bockelman scored 15 to go along with four rebounds and three steals. 

Sophomore Emmett Burke collected a team high nine rebounds and was the team’s second highest scorer with 11 points. 

WMU 68, Lone Tree 31

A tough task awaited the Lions as they went on the road to face off against the SEISC North leading Winfield-Mt Union Wolves. 

The No. 5 ranked in Class 1A Wolves proved to be too much for the Lions to handle, with WMU collecting its 10th win of the season while giving Lone Tree its seventh loss of the season.   

With this win WMU improves its unblemished conference record to 9-0 and Lone Tree’s conference record drops to 2-6. 

Although Lone Tree leads the all-time series record over WMU, 21-11, the Wolves have now won seven straight over the Lions with Lone Tree’s last win over WMU coming in 2020. 

Scoring over 20 in the first and third quarter, the Wolves entered the final frame with a 35 point lead. The Lions were held to single digits in the first, second, and fourth quarter. 

WMU was led by standout senior Cam Buffington who scored a team high 20 points. Recording a double-double with 13 points and a team leading 18 rebounds was fellow senior Abram Edwards. 

Up next for Lone Tree (5-7) is a home game against Highland (1-8) on Jan. 12. Lone Tree will be looking for the season sweep on Highland, winning the first matchup on Dec. 1, 62-30.