Broncos move on to RPAC semifinals

    With wins in the first two rounds of the RPAC tournament, the Wauneta-Palisade girls’ basketball team is guaranteed at least fourth place in the conference tournament.
    The third-seeded Broncos opened the tournament with a 60-45 win over sixth seeded Dundy County Stratton in Benkelman Saturday.
    As has been typical this season, the weather threw a monkey wrench into practice time late in the week, but Head Coach Matt Cox was happy with his team’s effort throughout the game, despite the lack of court time to prepare.
    WP couldn’t shake the improving Tigers in the first quarter. Peyton Cox went to work from the low block for the Broncos. Behind her eight points, WP took a 15-12 lead.
    With 11 points from each team in the second quarter, WP’s lead remained three points at halftime, 26-23. Chloe Stehno and Cali Cox each went 2-2 from the charity stripe in the second quarter.
    The Broncos pulled away in the second half with eight players scoring over the game’s final 16 minutes. After scoring 13 points in the first half, P. Cox added another 12 points in the second half. The sophomore ended the game with 25 points and 22 rebounds.
    “DCS did a great job offensively against our defensive scheme. We had some really good offensive possessions and some ready bad, untimely turnovers. We’ve got to tighten that up to be competitive the rest of this tourney,” Cox said.
    C. Cox also finished in double figures with 14 points. C. Stehno had seven points and 10 rebounds.
    On Monday night WP took down second seeded Paxton. Going into the game, the Tigers’ only two losses on the year had come from Class D1 No. 1 Maywood/Hayes Center. The Broncos will play MHC Thursday in Paxton for a berth in the RPAC championship game.
    Although WP fell behind 0-4 early, the Broncos’ press gave Paxton fits for most of the night. WP soon found itself leading and took a 10-6 lead into the second quarter.
    “We got off to a great start defensively and did a good job rebounding on the defensive end of the floor. Paxton started off cold offensively in the first half and that helped us out a lot,” Cox said.
    C. Cox scored five points in the first quarter and added two three pointers before halftime, helping give WP a 27-12 halftime lead.
    The third quarter had the teams trading points, but solid free throw shooting, 7-8, compared to Paxton’s 4-12, kept the Broncos in the control, 45-28.
    WP closed out the 59-40 win by clearing the bench and getting seven players in the scoring column, including four in double figures.
    C. Cox scored 19 points to lead the  Broncos. P. Cox scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Goings and C. Stehno each scored 11 points.
    “It was nice to see a new team with new challenges and it won’t get any easier this week,” Cox said.
    The win over Paxton also keeps the Broncos unbeaten against D2 opponents.
    On the east side of the bracket, Southwest upset No. 1 seed and Class D1 No. 7 Alma 57-44 Monday night. The Roughriders will face second seeded Southern Valley for a trip to the RPAC championship game. The Eagles, seeded second and ranked eighth in Class C2, beat Cambridge 59-48.

West Division
RPAC tournament results

First round, Jan. 21 at Benkelman
Hitchcock Co. 60, Wallace 41
Wauneta-Palisade 60, DCS 45
Paxton 47, Maxwell 39
Second round, Jan. 23 at Trenton
MHC 65, Hitchcock County 23
WP 59, Paxton 40
DCS 44, Maxwell 37
Thursday, Jan. 26 at Paxton
Wallace vs DCS, 4:15 p.m.
Hitchcock County vs. Paxton, 6 p.m. CT
West Division Championship
WP vs. MHC, 7:45 p.m. CT
RPAC Consolation game—Jan. 28
2:30 p.m. CT at McCook
RPAC Championship—Jan. 28
6 p.m. CT at McCook