WAYLAND

A challenging task awaiting the Lions as they hit the road to face off against the WACO Warriors who trail only Winfield-Mt Union in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference standings. 

Scoring over 20 in the first and third quarter, the Warriors defeated the Lions, 74-49, to extend their win streak to four in a row on Dec. 19. 

Lone Tree scored first in this matchup, courtesy of a three-pointer from sophomore Emmett Burke, but then the Lions would go cold, allowing WACO to go on a 10-0 run to take the lead. They held this lead for the rest of the game. 

Burke and senior Ethan Bockelman were the only Lions to score in the first quarter. When the game was all said and done Burke and Bockelman both scored a team high 12 points. Burke also recorded team highs of four steals and four rebounds.  

Keeping the momentum they garnered in the first, WACO outscored the Lions once again in the second quarter to head into halftime with a 14 point lead. 

The third quarter is where the Warriors were able to truly separate themselves from the Lions.

WACO scored a quarter high 26 points while also holding Lone Tree to a quarter low nine points in the third. This impressive display gave WACO a 31 point lead with only the fourth frame left to play. 

Lone Tree was able to outscore WACO in the fourth but the deficit was too great to overcome and they fell to the Warriors, ending the year with their sixth loss of the season. 

Leading all scorers on the night was WACO senior Hunter Hughes. Hughes scored 21 points and nabbed a team high eight steals. Pulling down a team high nine rebounds was fellow senior Colton Leichty. Leichty was also WACO’s second highest scorer with 15 points. 

Up next for the Lions, along with all other teams, is a break for the holidays. Lone Tree’s next game will be in a new year when they stay home to play against the Wapello Indians (2-7) on Jan. 2.