The IBW basketball teams have started their season well. The women’s team is coached by Glen Coblens. They are sitting pretty good with their record being nine to three. They are currently ranked fourth in the PIL and 20th overall in Oregon. Meanwhile, the men’s team is coached by Max Trezise. They only need a couple more wins to push them over the edge into a .500 season. With their record being 5-7, they are fifth in the PIL and 30th in OSAA. Both teams have a good chance of making it to the playoffs, but we will have a better picture as the season progresses further.
On Friday, January 10, both Guardian teams had to face off against their rivals: the Lincoln Cardinals. Since our mascot (owl) and Lincoln’s mascot (cardinal) are both birds, whenever the two rivals face each other, the game is dubbed the ‘The Battle of the Birds’. Wells and Lincoln played at home; the women’s game began around 5:45 and shortly after that, the men’s began at 7:15. Meanwhile, both men’s JV teams had their games at Lincoln. The women’s JV played at 4:15 and women’s JV2 at Canby.
Last year, during the ‘23-’24 season, the women’s team took down the Cardinals in an epic showdown that resulted in a 55-46 W and a 55-36 W. On the other hand, the men’s team lost to Lincoln at an away game (74-80 L) then later on triumphed over them at home (94-91 W). This year there was a lot of pressure on the Guardians to keep their win streak up and ‘cage the cards’. Freshman JV player Ava McMahon said, “They conditioned a lot for this game. They did jump roping, ran lines, and other stuff like that.” Both Guardians teams were determined and trained hard for this win.
At 5:45, the women’s game tipped off. The game started well, seeming to go in favor for the Guardians. After numerous successful three-pointers and free throws for Wells, along with several airballs from Lincoln, Wells easily took the first quarter with a lead of 15-9. This pattern seemed to continue throughout the rest of the game: the score heading into halftime was a whopping 36-26 Wells. The Guardians quickly took care of the Cardinals finishing them off with a lead of over 20 points and an end game score of 60-41. There were many standout players in this game including senior Autumn Hart (#1), senior Katie Lommen (#30), and senior Claire Dixon (#2).
In the beginning of the men’s varsity game, it started off a little rocky. In the first five minutes, they were already down over 10 points. When it became too much, Coach Trezise finally called a timeout at 5-17. After that the Guardians came out with a new sense of confidence. They brought the game back, went on a long run scoring 11-2. The first quarter ended in a 16-19 lead for the Cards. Throughout the second quarter the tension was high as the lead kept switching between the two teams. Lincoln was ahead by three points going into half time (36/39 Lincoln). Throughout the second half, Wells not only took the lead but started taking control of the entire game, gaining a bigger gap as the half progressed. In the end of the match it wasn’t even close, with an end game score of 72-62.
After a clean sweep across the boards for both of our varsity teams, the Guardians are excited to face off the Cards in the Lincoln gym. All Wells teams will make sure to keep up the good work in preparation for when Lincoln has their own home court advantage, and try to ‘cage the cards’ another time later in the season. Go Guards!
