Broncos riding five-game winning streak into postseason

    With wins over 14-2 Atwood-Rawlins County, Kansas and 21-3 Maywood/Hayes Center, the Wauneta-Palisade girls’ basketball team has plenty of momentum heading into the postseason.
    WP hosted Rawlins County Tuesday for a back-and-forth affair.
    The Broncos started the game on a 12-0 run but only led by two, 12-10, heading into the second quarter.
    Once more, WP opened up a double-digit lead, 28-14, but allowed the Buffaloes to close the gap. The Broncos to only led 28-20 at halftime.
    WP led by as many as 12 points, 38-26 with 4:34 left in the quarter, but saw that margin shrink to nine, 46-37, but this time the quarter ended.
    The lead quickly grew in the fourth quarter thanks to a stellar defensive effort. WP held the Buffaloes three points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter en route to a 65-52 win.
    Peyton Cox led four Broncos in double figures with 16 points. Alexa Sandman scored 14 points and WP got 13 points apiece from Chloe Stehno and Cali Cox.
    WP Head Coach Matt Cox said the game had huge momentum shifts and his team couldn’t stop grinding.
    Cox said his team has realized if they just keep working and do their jobs, good things happen.
    The game was a good one to prepare for Friday’s contest at MCH, Cox said.
    The start to WP’s matchup with the Wolves wasn’t what anyone could imagine. It took three minutes for either team to score, but WP soon found itself in a 14-4 hole with a minute left in the first quarter. With three points in that last minute, the Broncos started building momentum for the next eight minutes.
    WP trailed by six early in the quarter, but tied the game at 22 with 3:20 left in the half. Two baskets by C. Cox, her first in the game, helped WP to a 28-27 halftime lead.
    The Broncos found themselves trailing 30-33 after the first three minutes of the half, but bounced back to break open a 39-39 score with 1:47 to close the quarter on a five-point run.
    The game stayed close in the final quarter. WP led 48-44 with five minutes left, but were unable to shake the Wolves. Fouls started to add up for both teams as time ran down. MHC tied the game at 49 with three minutes remaining. Neither team could gain more than a one-point advantage until WP took a 56-54 lead with 53 seconds left.
    Two big tie ups by Halle Bardsley and six free throws by the Broncos down the stretch to sealed the 61-57 win.
    Sandman scored 17 points to lead WP. P. Cox finished the night with 15 points and Stehno scored 12 points.
    Cox said his favorite thing about the win over MHC, which sits one spot ahead of WP in the point standings in sixth, was the resilience his team showed and how they seemed unaffected by the momentum changes.
    “We had talked a lot about getting too emotional and I thought the girls did an outstanding job keeping them in check. The moment never felt like it was too big for us, we stuck to our game plan and it was nice to make some free throws down the stretch,” Cox said.
Up next
    Cox said he thought WP’s  last two games were the most complete it’s played all year.
    With the postseason beginning, that’s coming at a good time.
    The Broncos were to host the subdistrict but found its first round game forfeited to them by Dundy County Stratton.
    WP will face Wallace, the second seed that beat Paxton 51-36 Tuesday, Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Wauneta.
    District games will be played Feb. 25.