Wauneta-Palisade to meet Diller-Odell in district finals

    After a first-round forfeit by Dundy County Stratton to start the D2-9 subdistrict, Wauneta-Palisade booked its ticket in the district finals with a 50-45 win at home over Wallace last Thursday.
    WP Head Coach Matt Cox said nothing the Broncos did came easy against the Wildcats.
    “We didn’t shoot very well for being on our own home floor, but we did a great job with game management,” Cox said.
    GraCee Goings scored four of the Broncos’ first six points in the game. Peyton Cox and Chloe Stenho also added baskets to give Wauneta-Palisade a 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
    The Broncos didn’t find much breathing room in the second quarter. Stehno hit back-to-back buckets for WP. Goings matched her effort, hitting two in a row, as well. After two free throws by Cox, Alexa Sandman got on the board with three points to end the first half. WP lead 24-22 at halftime.
    The third quarter was the difference in the game. Sandman’s quarter-opening two pointer was followed by a three pointer from Cox. A basket by Stehno, followed by a conventional three-point play by Cox rounded out the Broncos’ scoring in the third quarter.
    Wallace didn’t fair much better, only making two field goals and two free throws over the same eight-minute span.
    The six-point advantage, 34-28, was all WP needed to finish off the win.
    Izabelle Stehno started off fourth quarter scoring with her only basket of the game, a three pointer. C. Stehno and Sandman would hit field goals, as well, but it was free throws that pulled out the win for the Broncos. Eight of WP’s final 10 points came at the charity stripe. Sandman made 7-8 free throws and the rest of the Broncos combined to go 2-6 to finish off the win.
    “Our free throws down the stretch were huge,” Cox said.
    Sandman led WP with 16 points. Also finishing in double figures were P. Cox with 11 points and C. Stehno with 10 points.
    P. Cox finished off a double double with 10 rebounds. Sandman pulled down eight rebounds and Stehno seven.
    Cox said the win was a great team effort against a very competitive Wallace team.
    “We were in foul trouble for the fourth quarter, but we were very smart,” he added.
Up next
    Cox said he has loved WP’s last three games and how it won at the end over Atwood-Rawlins County, Maywood/Hayes Center and Wallace.
    “It builds character and confidence. We will need both to get through our district final,” Cox said.
    The Broncos, seeded seventh, will play Diller-Odell (15-7) Friday at Wilcox-Hildreth.
    Cox said Diller-Odell has a  very good freshman guard, Marquis Weers, that the Broncos will need to keep contained.
     “I believe we can do it,” Cox said, adding that Weers is similar to another freshman, Sterling’s Macey Richardson, that the Broncos faced in last year’s district finals.
     “I think we’ll have an advantage because our scoring is spread out and we have so many tools to utilize. It’ll be fun to get into the film and see how we matchup position by position, but at face value, it looks like a team we can be very competitive with,” Cox said.
    Other district finals will see top-seeded Falls City Sacred Heart against Osceola, second-seeded Humphrey St. Francis versus Sandhills/Thedford, third-seeded St. Mary’s going against Exeter-Milligan, fourth-seeded Anselmo-Merna against Parkview Christian, fifth seeded Sterling versus South Platte, sixth seeded Crawford against Silver lake and eighth-seeded Maywood/Hayes Center against Wynot.