COULEE CITY — Both the Almira/Coulee-Hartline boys and girls basketball teams picked up wins over Mary Walker on Friday night, with the girls surrendering a season-low eight points in a 60-8 win and the boys using a fast start to defeat the Chargers 61-45.

ACH Girls

After Mary Walker took a 2-0 lead 10 seconds into Friday’s game, the Warrior defense held the Chargers scoreless for nearly 12 minutes, jumping out to a 38-4 lead by the time halftime rolled around. ACH head coach Matt Elder said the beginning of the game was used to implement some new plays on the offensive end.

“I was trying to get our posts more involved, have them working on their movement,” Elder said. “It took us a little bit to get them moving.”

Two of the three leading scorers for the Warriors were post players; freshman Josie Bayless (12 points) and sophomore Emma Brummett (10 points). Sophomore guard Naomi Molitor tied for a team-high with 12 points in the win.

“They keep getting better and better,” Elder said of the post-play. “They were working hard, and that created a lot of stuff for them. They had big nights — a lot of good rebounds, a lot of good breakouts for lay-ins — for the six-foot girl dribbling down the court, it’s always nice to see that when they do that.”

Friday’s win snapped a two-game skid for the Warriors, who lost 44-32 on the road to Wellpinit on Jan. 13 and 39-37 at home to Curlew on Jan. 16.

“It’s always nice to get back in the win column after a couple losses in a row,” Elder said. “(Mary Walker was) missing three starters; there were some defensive things I was hoping we could work on against some of their better players, but they weren’t there. We missed out on that, but winning gets a positive attitude for our girls and (builds) confidence.”

The Jan. 16 game against Curlew saw the Warriors nearly take down the Northeast 1B league leaders, though the 15-2 Cougars came out on top late by capitalizing on Warrior miscues.

“We look at the matchups and try to defend as well as we can,” Elder said. “When you’ve got good scorers and good defense, that’s why (Curlew’s) winning. I felt like we controlled the game, but when it came down to that fourth quarter – tied it back up and got that lead — it wasn’t one mistake, it was multiple mistakes. Our nerves got to us. That’s a great learning experience for our girls.”

ACH (10-6) improved to 9-2 in league games with Friday’s win over Mary Walker and a 54-18 win over Chesterton on Saturday. With district playoffs beginning later next week, Elder noted the importance of finishing the regular season on a high note.

“We want to finish with three wins, keep building that confidence and knowing our style,” Elder said. 

ACH Boys

Coming off back-to-back wins against Odessa and Curlew the Warriors entered Friday’s game looking to improve on their 4-4 mark in league games this season, taking on a tall Mary Walker team that had won eight of their past 10 games. 

“We knew we had a tough task,” ACH head coach Graham Grindy said. “Size-wise they’re bigger than us, so we rebounded well, we played pretty tough, physical defense — especially inside, and actually we had some good offensive production in the paint too. That was a huge boost.”

ACH outscored the Chargers 18-12 in the first quarter and 35-19 in the first half, with sophomores Brady Roberts and Caden Correia leading the way with eight points each through the first 16 minutes. Correia hit two of ACH’s four second-quarter three-pointers; senior Jaxon Baergen and sophomore Josh Booker both hit one three-pointer.

“Shooting is just as much mental as it is going through repetitions in practice and getting your shots up,” Grindy said. “When you get in a game I always tell them, ‘You always have to have your feet set, ready to shoot. When it comes to you, shoot it.’”

The Warrior defense carried its strong play into the second half, holding Mary Walker to 10 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the final frame; Mary Walker’s 45 points Friday night were a season-low before the Chargers scored 42 points Saturday. 

“We had pretty decent on-ball pressure too; I think all around the guys were aware,” Grindy said. “We had a game plan, and all the boys totally bought into it and did what we practiced.”

With three games left on the schedule, the Warriors (7-9) travel to Wellpinit Wednesday before hosting Valley Christian on Friday night. ACH’s regular-season finale is on the road against Republic on Saturday.

“In order for us to keep it going, we just have to tighten a few things up and stay positive,” Grindy said. 

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box scores

ACH Girls
MW: 2-2-0-4 8
ACH: 17-21-18-4 60

ACH Boys
MW: 12-9-10-14 45
ACH: 18-17-15-11 61

    ACH sophomore Naomi Molitor (10) tied for a team-high in points with 12 against the Chargers Friday night.
  

    ACH freshman Josie Bayless (30) attempts a jump shot in the first half against Mary Walker Friday. Bayless tied for a team-high with 12 points in the win.