Warriors bounce back, beat Kaskaskia 75-70

Javier Turner (left) drives the baseline as Southwestern's Adonis Humphreys (55) and Ian Hardy get tangled up in an earlier game.
Javier Turner (left) drives the baseline as Southwestern's Adonis Humphreys (55) and Ian Hardy get tangled up in an earlier game.

Centralia, Ill. – Wabash Valley got back on the winning track on Monday night, with a 75-70 Great Rivers Athletic Conference win at Kaskaskia.

The Warriors, in snapping a two-game losing streak, improved to 7-6 on the season and 3-4 in the GRAC. Kaskaskia fell to 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the league.

WVC rallied to the win in the second half. The Warriors trailed at halftime, 42-39, but outscored the Blue Devils, 36-28, over the final 20 minutes for the win.

Jejuan Weatherspoon led Wabash Valley in scoring with a career-high 26 points.  Kaskaskia was paced by Payton Sheen, who finished with 16 points, once of five Blue Devils in double figures.

The game was re-scheduled after being snowed out on Feb. 16. The two teams will play a second time in five days this Saturday at Spencer Sports Center at 3 p.m.

Shawnee 70, Wabash Valley 57

Saturday in Ullin, the Saints won the rematch, beating Wabash Valley 70-57, to earn a split of the regular-season series.

Shawnee (4-4, 3-2 in GRAC) is now in third place in the conference race. They led WVC by eight points at the half, 32-24, and did not let up in the second half, adding to the margin.

The Warriors went most of the game without their leading scorer, TreVon Smith, who suffered a contact knee injury four minutes into the game.

"We have really struggled offensively the last few games and losing Smith to an injury really hurts," said Warrior coach Mike Carpenter. "I was really happy with our defensive effort, but we are needing guys to step up and help score the ball."

Weatherspoon led WVC with 18 points.