The West Liberty Boys basketball team captured their second consecutive victory Monday in West Liberty over Durant on a last second shot by Caleb Wulf before dropping their next two games to West Branch and Mid-Prairie.
On Monday, Feb. 1, the Comets faced Durant , hoping to revenge on a 55-52 setback earlier in the year. The visiting Wildcats captured the lead after the opening quarter, 12-10 and extended their lead before the half to 27-22.
The Comets pulled themselves back within striking distance outscoring the Wildcats 15-13 in the third and then continued their push in the fourth, although trailing 48-43 with a minute left..
Junior Caleb Wulf buried a three-pointer for the Comets and Chance Thrasher made both his free throws after getting fouled, tieing the game at 48 with 10 seconds left.
The Wildcats drew a foul on their next possession and headed to the line for free throws, making the first but missing the second. Chance Thrasher pulled down the rebound, passed to Wulf, who took the ball the length of the court and threw up a runner that kissed off the glass and into the net as time expired to give the Comets a dramatic 50-49 victory, on their third of the season.
Hector Adames led Comet scoring with 20 points while also collecting three steals while Wulf had a double-double, scoring 14 points and collecting 10 rebounds while also snagging seven steals. Ty Jones added 11 points while Thrasher had two points and eight rebounds. Josh Perez-Echevarri also had two points for the Comets and Jayce McHugh rounded out scoring with a single point.
On Tuesday night, Feb. 2, the Comets headed to West Branch and were eaten alive by the Bears, who took an 11-6 first period lead before exploding to a 37-12 halftime advantage, cruising to a 57-32 win.
Jahsiah Galvan led the Comets with 10 points and seven rebounds while Jones added six as did Thrasher and Wulf finished with four points, but also had 11 rebounds. McHugh hit four points and Adames added a pair.
On Saturday, the Comets played Mid-Prairie, the first of two meetings after two postponements. The Golden Hawks captured an opening quarter 15-12 lead before each team hit 17 in the second. The Golden Hawks extended the lead to eight after three and won 68-45.
Wulf and Thrasher both scored 12 points to lead West Liberty while. Adames and Jones both had eight. Galvan added three and Josh Perez-Echevarri hit two..
The Comets sit at 3-12 on the season and match up against Iowa City Regina Thurday before taking on the Regals again in the first round of district play on Monday