DES MOINES — Woodward-Granger and Central Decatur met Saturday for a non-conference junior varsity/varsity boys basketball matinee at a place both teams would dearly love to return to and the end of the season — the Wells Fargo Arena.
If they are fortunate enough to do so, W-G (4-1) would love to have a similar outcome regardless of opponent, as the Hawks grabbed control early for a 74-37 win over the Cardinals (3-2). W-G was a 32-25 winner in the JV game, with nine points from Trevor Simmons leading the charge.
The Hawk offense clicked from the beginning as W-G raced to leads of 21-9 after one quarter and of 46-19 at the break. Head coach Brent Achenbach emptied the bench, with all in uniform seeing plenty of playing time.
W-G led, 62-29, after three frames and rolled on to the win from there. The Hawks have outscored the opposition, 334-187, through five games, a positive average of 29.4 points per game, eighth-best in Class 2A.
Bryce Achenbach had 17 points, Reese Jamison 12 and Alex Bice 11 for the victors. Kaya Bowlsby added nine points and Pacey Moats seven, with six points from Keith Braunschweig, five apiece from Nick Buch and Dylan Backe and two from Jack Grell closed the Hawk scoring list.
W-G finished with 19 steals in the game, with Bowlsby making seven thefts while adding four assists. Achenbach had a team-best seven assists, with Buch and Jamison both grabbing five rebounds.
Cale Peterson led the Cardinals with 21 points.
W-G will host Interstate-35 and then visit Ogden Friday in their final pre-holiday contests. Both dates are WCAC boys/girls sets beginning at 6 p.m.
