The West Liberty High School Girls Basketball team has rebounded following a tough opening to the season, the highly ranked 3A girls winning their last four games in a row.
Coach Matt Hoeppner’s Comets kept themselves on the winning track with dominating victories over Tipton, 56-32, and Anamosa, 68-45, to extend their winning streak to four games.
The streak started with a 76-49 beating of Durant on Tuesday, Dec. 14 when Sailor Hall hit 25 points on nine of 13 shooting from the floor and hitting three of five three-pointers and her sister, Finley Hall, scored 19 and Macy Daufeldt added 17 in shooting 50 percent from the floor. Finley Hall also lead the team in rebounds in that game, pulling down 10 while nabbing four steals and four assists to lead the team.
West Liberty jumped out to an early lead in that game, winning 20-9 after the first quarter and cruised to a 41-24 second half margin to take the easy win.
On Tuesday, Dec. 15, the Comets took a short road trip to play the Tigers in Cedar County. Looking to stay in the hunt for the River Valley Conference South title, the Comets knew they would need to take care of every opponent for the rest of the season.
The Tigers entered the night with just one win and the Comets wasted no time jumping out to an early lead, ending the first quarter up 14-10. They settled in during the second period and outscored the Tigers 13-7 to take a 27-17 halftime lead before exploding to a 29-15 second half showing to take the 24 point win, Comet reserves getting their chance to show their talents in the final quarter.
Sophomore Finley Hall led Comet scoring with 17 points including hitting a pair of three-pointers while going 7-10 from the charity stripe. She also had six rebounds and three assists.
Junior Macy Daufeldt cleaned the glass for the Comets recording seven rebounds to go along with 12 points, three assists and six steals. Junior Sailor Hall shared the wealth leading with a team-leading seven assists to go along with her 14 points that included hitting five of six free throws. Janey Gingerich had 12 points and six rebounds and Averi Goodale had five points for the Comets while Martha Pace closed out the West Liberty scoring with two points.
On Friday, Dec. 18, the Comets played host to Anamosa on Senior night. The game was never in question for the Comets, jumping ahead by eight points by the end of the opening quarter then taking a 42-18 lead into halftime.
Comet scoring would slow down in the second half but it would be enough for Anamosa to mount a comeback, falling to the Comets 68-45.
Sailor Hall led the Comets offensively, scoring 20 points on six of 10 shooting as well as hitting half of her four three point shots and all six of her free throws while adding seven assists, five steals and a pair of rebounds.
Finley followed closely behind with 19 points on seven of 11 shooting and a pair of three-pointers while also hitting all three of her free throws. She also had five steals, five assists and two rebounds in the outing.
Daufeldt had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the winning effort. Comets Janey Gingerich and Averi Goodale would round out scoring with nine and five respectively.
The fourth straight win came Monday night Dec. 21, when West Liberty thumped Mid-Prairie 61-26, including skunking the visitors in the third quarter, 22-0 after taking a 25-18 halftime lead. West Liberty finished the night with a 14-8 showing for the 35-point win.
Three Comets came through with double figures, led by Daufeldt and Finley Hall with 14 each while Sailor Hall added 13. Finley Hall hit six of nine field goals in the game as well as going two of five from three point land while Sailor Hall went 5 of 11 and Daufeldt was seven of 21. Averi Goodale lead the rebounding for the Comets with 10 while Finley Hall had six blocks in the game and Sailor Hall nabbed seven steals to go along with seven assists.
The Comets head into the holiday break 4-2 after winning four in a row. They will resume action in 2021, facing West Branch on Tuesday, Jan. 5 and Iowa City Regina on Jan. 8 in what could be a battle for first place in the River Valley South Division. Both games will be played in the West Liberty High School gym and can be viewed on the West Liberty Community School District YouTube channel.