WOODWARD — The first meeting of the season between WCAC foes AC/GC and Woodward-Granger was held, in Woodward, Jan. 5, and the hosts had little trouble to flying to a 62-37 win. The rematch, played Feb. 6 in Guthrie Center, required a last-second shot for W-G to emerge with a 52-51 win.
Monday’s Class 2A District 15 first round tussle appeared to be headed toward another close finish, as opposed to the blowout of the first meeting, as AC/GC turned an 8-5 lead after a slow first quarter into a 24-20 halftime lead.
However, the Hawks had no desire to leave matters to the final seconds, and, fueled by the outside shooting of Reese Jamison and Bryce Achenbach erupted after the intermission to claim a 54-40 victory.
W-G (13-9) advances to face Woodward Academy (14-7) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Des Moines Christian. The 8 p.m. contest will pit Greene County (12-10), a 67-53 winner over Panorama (6-22) of the first game Monday in Woodward, against DMC (19-2). The District 15 Final will be Feb. 20 at DC-G.
Jamison buried six 3-pointers in the win and Achenbach three, with the former landing four bombs after the break and the latter two. Their sharpshooting helped W-G seize a 40-30 lead after three quarters en route to the victory.
The Hawks were 10-of-13 at the foul line in the win while the Chargers (3-19) did not attempt a free throw.
Bryce Littler had three of his squad’s six 3-pointers and led the guests with 13 points. Caden Wardyn had nine points, Quenton Spack seven and Quynton Younker five, with Collin Stowe providing four points and Noah Nelson two.
Jamison led all scorers with 20 points while Achenbach finished with 15. Noah Hoyt tallied seven points and Keith Braunschweig six, with three points from J.P. Nixon, two from Pacey Moats and a free throw from Kaya Bowlsby capping the scoring. Hoyt had the other trey made by the hosts in the win.
