Aubrey Holthaus finished with a gamehigh 20 points to lead the Macomb High Bombers past West Prairie/Southeastern 70-41 on Jan. 22 in Colchester.
MHS improved to 13-9 overall and 2-1 in the Prairieland Conference.
Macomb jumped out to an early 16-4 lead thanks in part to a pair of three-pointers from Sophie Wilson and a trey by Reese Watson.
But the pesky Cyclones came roaring back late in the first quarter as Madelynn Sullivan drilled three consecutive treys to ignite a 9-0 run to bring WP/SE to within 16-13 heading into the second quarter.
That would be as close as WP/SE would get as Holthaus hit a three-pointer to start the period and the Bombers extended their lead to 28-15 with about five minutes left in the first half.
But the Lady Cyclones refused to go away entirely and used a balanced scoring attack to eventually cut the deficit to 33-25 with just under a minute remaining.
MHS closed out with back-to-back baskets from Jordan Hines and Wilson to take a 37-25 advantage into the locker room at the break.
MHS came out in the third quarter to take charge as Hines had eight points in the period and the Lady Bombers outscored WP/SE 19-9 to go up 56-34 after three quarters.
The Bomber defense held the Cyclones to only one field goal over the last eight minutes and WP/SE struggled from the charity stripe as well, converting on just 5-of-16 attempts in the period.
The loss dropped West Prairie to 13-11 for the season and 1-2 in the Prairieland.
“It was an overall good game,” said MHS head coach Justin Elbe. “I thought West Prairie played really good. You could tell they were up for the game. We got up (early) and they came storming back and the crowd got into it a little bit, but I was glad that we kind of answered that by the end of the first half.”
Hines finished with 18 points and a teamhigh 12 rebounds and Wilson had 12 points to pace the MHS attack.
Other Lady Bombers in the scoring column were Watson and Dakota Thorman with eight points apiece while Kinley Sloan added four.
Sullivan led the Cyclones with 16 points including four treys and Payton McGrew finished with 11. Alyvia Barkley had eight points while Emily Martin and Addy Stanberry chipped in three points each to round out the WP/SE scoring.
Despite the loss, WP head coach Grant Bland considered it a learning experience for his young squad.
“It was a tough game, but I’m glad that we didn’t give up early,” said Bland. “I love that these games show us more things we need to work on to take that next step.”
In the preliminary game, Grace O’Hern poured in 21 points to lead the MHS junior varsity to a 46-14 win over West Prairie/ Southeastern.
The Cyclones held a slim 8-5 lead after one period before the Bombers rallied in the second quarter to go up 18-11 at halftime.
It was all MHS in the second half as the Bombers outscored the hosts 28-3 to secure the win.
Sloan finished with eight points and Brooklyn Lyles had seven for MHS.
Other scorers for the Lady Bombers were Taylor Mann with six points while Olyvia Clark and Haley Daugherty added two points apiece.
Madison McClure and Braelyn Reeves led WP/SE with three points apiece while Alyvia Barkley, Josie Hodges, McGrew, and Stanberry finished with two points each.
