Wilton defeats Bears in low-scoring contest
by Matthew Dickinson, sports editor · Sports · January 22, 2025
In a road River Valley Conference heartbreaker, the West Branch girls’ basketball team came up just short Jan. 14 at Wilton in a 37-31 setback.
“We made a run, we just couldn’t quite close it down the stretch,” Bears Head Coach Justin Liddle said. “We missed a lot of shots for whatever reason tonight. I thought we did better not turning the ball over.”
The Bears, who fell to 2-10, were searching for their first win in conference play entering the road tilt. West Branch also aimed to avenge a 2-0 sweep by the Beavers in the team’s matchups last season.
The Beavers took control of the game early, racing out to a 7-0 lead before Ava Burnett snapped the run with a layup. Foul trouble became a factor early for West Branch, with starter Lexi Skay collecting two personal fouls just under two minutes into the game. Alyssa Pierce cut the deficit to one score with a pair of free throws, setting up a 7-4 score at a Wilton timeout with 3:23 left in the first.
Wilton then scored six unanswered to lead 13-4 at the end of the first.
Burnett had the Bears’ next five points starting with a layup assisted by Kennedy Simpson followed by a 3-pointer that made it a 17-9 game at a timeout with 6:05 left in the half.
After the reset, Simpson cracked the scoring ledger with a layup while Wilton called timeout moments later up 17-11 with 2:42 remaining in the quarter.
Simpson added two more points on as many free throws to slice the West Branch deficit to 17-13 at another timeout. After the break, Burnett added two more points on as many free throws as the Bears trailed just 17-15 at the half.
Simpson came alive to start the third with a pair of 3-pointers, but Wilton led 28-21 entering the fourth.
The Beavers had two points to open the fourth to lead 30-21 at a timeout with 6:24 left. Burnett added a point on a free throw after the reset, while Simpson cut the Wilton lead to five with a 3-pointer. Wilton led 30-25 at a timeout with an even four minutes to play.
Skay cut the lead to two with a 3-pointer, making it a 30-28 game at a West Branch timeout with 1:56 left. Wilton scored four unanswered, but Beavers starter Ashley Swift fouled out with 1:08 to play. Schultes added a point on a free throw, while Burnett pulled the Bears within three with two free throws at 34-31 with 30.7 left.
The Beavers entered the bonus after intentional fouls, pushing the lead to four with one of two free throws going in the basket. West Branch drew a foul on the other end but could not get either shot to fall. The Beavers added the final points on two unanswered free throws.
West Branch took care defensively to limit Swift, who ended up second on the team with a quiet 10 points despite having a significant size advantage in the post, which helped the Bears have a chance against the Beavers.
“She’s a good basketball player,” Liddle said of Swift. “She can finish inside. But I thought when we started doubling her things went well for us.”
Offensively, Simpson led the team with 13 points with Burnett taking second on the team with 13 points. West Branch had a well-rounded approach, with two other players reaching 10 shot attempts and all but one player who checked in the game putting up a field goal attempt.
“I thought we took care of the ball and got the shots that we wanted,” the coach said. “They did a nice job of hitting some shots here and there.”
1 2 3 4 T
WB 4 11 6 10 31
Wilt 13 4 11 9 37
West Branch statistics: Lexi Skay 1 1-10 3, 1 3-pointer, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block; Kennedy Simpson 4 4-15 13, 3 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Ava Burnett 3 3-12 12, 1 3-pointer, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Jenie Gomez 0 0-2 0, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals; Addi Schultes 0 0-12 1, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; Katelyn Essington 0 0-0 0; Alyssa Pierce 0 0-3 2, 5 rebounds; Sulli Bucknell 0 0-2 0, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. Team totals: 8 8-56 31, 5 3-pointers, 42 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 steals, 1 block.
Wilton statistics: Abren Bazal 1 1-7 4, 3 rebounds; Jessie Mach 1 1-10 3, 1 3-pointer, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Leah Caffery 0 0-13 0, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block; Kinsey Drake 5 5-9 20, 17 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Ashley Swift 3 3-6 10, 7 rebounds, 1 block; Ali Walker 0 0-5 0, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks; Annie Holladay 0 0-0 0, 1 rebound; Avery Fitzer 0 0-1 0. Team totals: 10 10-51 37, 1 3-pointer, 41 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks.
West Branch 40, Durant 45
West Branch went on the road to play River Valley Conference opponent Durant on Jan. 17, falling to their hosts, 45-40.
1 2 3 4 T
Dur 8 13 14 10 45
WB 12 2 9 17 40
West Branch statistics: Lexi Skay 2 2-7 5, 1 3-pointer, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; Kennedy Simpson 7 7-14 19, 3 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block; Ava Burnett 0 0-7 2, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks; Alyssa Pierce 2 2-8 4, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Addi Schultes 4 4-11 10, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals; Katelyn Essington 0 0-0 0; Jenie Gomez 0 0-5 0, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals; Sulli Bucknell 0 0-1 0, 1 rebound, 1 steal. Team totals: 15 15-53 40, 4 3-pointers, 30 rebounds, 8 assists, 14 steals, 3 blocks.
Durant statistics: Paige Happ 5 2-2 13, 1 3-pointer, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls; Mariah Alpen 0 2-2 2, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers; Adison Daufeldt 2 0-2 4, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls; Katelynn Toft 3 0-0 6, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls; Allison Toft, 4 2-6 10, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 6 blocks, 5 turnovers, 2 fouls; Lauren Callison 1 1-2 3; Mazie Timmerman 2 0-0 5, 1 3-pointer, 3 rebounds, 6 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers; Leah Feuerbach 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers; Isla Petersen 1 0-0 2, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 block. Team totals: 18 7-14 45, 2 3-pointers, 31 rebounds, 13 assists, 14 steals, 12 blocks, 27 turnovers, 12 fouls.
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