The West Liberty Basketball teams returned to the court following winter break with the girls basketball team splitting their matchups coming out of Christmas break, falling 51-40 to Northeast on the road and defeating Camanche 49-33 on Saturday in the RVC shootout in Maquoketa.
The Comet girls improve to 2-9 on the season and look to mount momentum going into the final leg of the season.
On Saturday, the boys returned to action for the first game after break taking a 52-50 victory over Hillcrest Academy.
The Comets girls returned from break with a matchup on the road against Northeast. The Comets struggled on defense after time off, allowing 17 Rebel points in the opening quarter with nine in response.
West Liberty continued to lose ground to their hosts in the second quarter, getting outscored 10-8 and heading into the locker room trailing 27-17.
Coming out of the break, the Comets were able to keep pace with Northeast in the third quarter, as both teams tallied 11 points.
In the fourth the Comets were unable to find the momentum they needed to make a comeback attempt as they were outscored once more, falling 51-40.
Pearson Hall tallied 12 for the Comets in the loss along with nine rebounds and a pair of assists.
Paige Werling joined Hall in the double figures tallying 10 points and five rebounds.
On Saturday, the Comets girls headed to Maquoketa for the RVC shootout. During the event, teams from both sides of the River Valley Conference matchup against an opponent from the other side of the conference.
This year the Comets matched up against Camanche. The teams found themselves tied up at nine a piece after the first quarter, before the Comets were able to grab a slim margin before the half, outscoring the Storm by one in the second quarter to take a 19-18 advantaged in the second half.
It would be in the third quarter where the Comets would leave their mark on the contest, scoring 21 to the Storm’s nine and taking firm control of the contest.
The final quarter saw the Comets outscore their opponents 9-2 to put the final touches on their second win of the season.
Pearson Hall tallied 17 points in the Comets victory, while Maelyn Wainwright scored eight and pulled down 18 rebounds in the victory.
On the boys side, the Comets headed south to take on Hillcrest Academy. The teams found themselves knotted at 15 a piece after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Comets were able to create some space, taking a six-point lead into the break after outscoring the Ravens 14-8 in the second quarter.
After halftime, the teams continued to do battle, trading blows but neither was able to create as the teams matched each other’s scoring outputs again with 11 each.
The host Ravens looked to swoop in and grab a victory in the final quarter, trailing by just six. there were able to outscore the Comets in the final quarter 16-12, but came up a pair short as the Comets escaped as 52-50 victory.
Jayce McHugh led the Comets with 15 points and four rebounds, as Seth Axsom tallied 14 and Ryker Dengler 13.
Both teams lost games due to the weather, with the boys losing their game Monday against Columbus falling to weather and the co-ed matchup against Durant Tuesday suffering the same fate.
West Liberty will return to action Friday on the road against Wilton before hosting Tipton on Monday for the teams second meeting of the season.