Peyton Cox, GraCee Goings set tone for Wauneta-Palisade

Although the Wauneta-Palisade girls basketball team only had two seniors on the floor this season, Peyton Cox and GraCee Goings set the tone.
Missing out on this year was senior Ryleigh McCrumb after a knee injury in volleyball.
Head Coach Matt Cox said he felt very bad for McCrumb suffering that late volleyball season knee injury, but she made the most of it.
“She came to practice, stayed engaged in the team, and it says a lot about her character. There’s a lot of seniors who would have found a reason to drift off after that type of injury, but she was around as much as she could be after surgery and I really appreciated it,” Cox said.
After being on the team for three years, Cox went on to say McCrumb had put in enough work to be in a great spot this season to contribute not only in games but in practice as well.
“She’s a really competitive kid and we could have used her experience in a lot of close games, which we had plenty of. In tight games, especially in the fourth quarter, there’s no substitute for experience,” Cox said.
Goings took care of ball handling duties for the Broncos, which Cox said she spent a ton of time developing, as well as her long range shooting, both of which really paid off the last two years.
“She recognized early that we’d need a reliable ball handler and she;s filled that role perfectly for us. She’s one of the fiercest competitors I’ve coached for a long time. To be a good leader, you can’t just turn it on for game night. Gracee had it turned on everyday in practice, it made for some competitive scrimmages and drills, and hopefully it rubbed off on the underclassmen,” Cox said.
Goings was second on the team with an average of 11.5 points per game and led WP in assists and steals per game.
Goings hit 34 three-pointers this season and will stay tied in WP’s records books after hitting eight three-pointers in one game last year. She finishes her career with 101 three-pointers.
Cox said he’s excited to see where Goings’ college track career takes her.
“She’s one of those kids who hates to be outworked,” he added.
P. Cox led WP with 15.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, as well as blocks per game, 2.5.
“Peyton could be the hardest to shoes to fill next season. She’s a great leader, she always has time to give underclassmen advice and they respect her. She’s an IQ basketball player and her greatest asset has always been her mind,” Cox said, adding, she has great instinct and anticipation and that can’t be taught.
P. Cox finished with over 1,000 points and rebounds in her career. After a freshman year where she averaged 9.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, P. Cox averaged a double-double for her final three seasons and is WP’s career rebounding leader.
“Her blocking ability is something very rare in girls basketball and it let us do things defensively that we will have trouble getting away with next season because she was so good at making players alter their shot inside of five feet,” Cox said.
“I’m very proud of the basketball player she has become and I’m excited to grab a bag of popcorn and watch her continue to develop at McCook Community College next season,” he added.
Looking over the careers of Goings and P. Cox, Cox said the competitiveness of these two, especially on opposite teams in practice, set a pretty high standard.
“There were times I had to stop what we were doing and spend some time talking a specific situation just to let everyone cool off because things were getting heated, and most of the time it was because of Gracee and Peyton.  As a coach, I love that competitiveness. Its something you can’t teach, and I’m going to miss it from those two next season,” he said.
Junior Izzy Stehno played in all 19 games this season and averaged 5.2 points and 7.9 rebounds.
Sophomore McKenna Doetker also played in every game and was a starter, along with classmate Cheyenne Parrish, who missed one game.
Freshman Emma Acton also played in 18 games, while junior Jewel Holthus saw action in 17 games.
The Broncos finished the season with a 9-12 record. WP suffered a seven-game losing streak in the middle of the season before closing the year out on a 4-2 run.
“In all my years of coaching I’ve been a part of my fair share of losing seasons. But I’ve never seen anything like this one,” Cox said.
Although Cox said WP’s record is unimpressive, he pointed out the Broncos only lost three games all season by double digits and only one of those really got away from WP.
“It’s almost still to painful to think about how close we were to being in the top half of D2 power points at the end of the season,” he said.
The post season will stick with Cox.
“The proudest thing for me all season was our performance as a five seed sub-district week,” he said.
WP lost to Medicine Valley Feb. 1, but beat them in the bunny bracket of the D2-9 tournament 54-51 Feb. 12.
The Broncos also upset top-seeded Cambridge on the Trojans’ home floor, 43-41.
While WP fell short in the subdistrict final 42-45 to Dundy County Stratton, Cox said he was impressed with the way his team battled from 11 points down to only lose by three in the end.
“That says all you need to know about this team. They are a bunch of fighters, and they continued to grow, get better, and kept a positive attitude all season long. I’m proud of them and their parents and community should be proud of them as well,” he finished.