By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Winfield — The No. 9 ranked (1A) Winfield-Mount Union Lady Wolves started hot and never let off the gas, cruising to a 55-31 1A, Region 5 Quarterfinal victory over Calamus-Wheatland in Winfield last night.
Bradie Buffington paced the Lady Wolves with 14 points — 11 of which came after halftime — headlining eight different players who scored for Winfield.
“We just had a lot of talks, early in the year, you know sacrificing individual statistics for team glory” head coach Mitch Wachs said.
“Anyone who has watched us this year knows we are extremely unselfish and dearly care who comes out on top on the scoreboard at the end of the night. That’s what’s made us successful. We can have anywhere from seven to eight girls lead us in scoring” Wachs explained.
Winfield-Mount Union went on an extended 31-15 run over the games’ final 16 minutes to seize the victory.
Now, they’ll get a hotly anticipated matchup with No. 10 Burlington Notre Dame in Friday’s semifinal round.
That will be a game played at Winfield-Mount Union High School.
“We have some history with [Notre Dame]. We didn’t have a good showing down there last year, but we are totally different this year.” Wachs said.
“We’re on a mission to prove ourselves, we feel like we do that every night. We still feel like we have more to prove and Friday is the one. We’ve been gunning for this one for a while.”
“We’re very excited” Wachs said with a smile.
The Wolves held Cal-Wheatland to just 29% from the field.
Kyndal Townsley added nine, while Farrah Nelson chipped in with eight for the Wolves.
Friday night’s game can be heard on FM 105.5.
John Kuhens and Kent Bennett will have the call, while Nathan Bloechl will be providing the latest from the State Wrestling Tournament.