No contest in Wamac showdown

By Mike Koolbeck, correspondent

CEDAR RAPIDS - The top two girls basketball teams in the Wamac Conference East Division met at the U.S. Cellular Center last night.

It was no contest.

Rose Simon-Ressler scored 17 points and unbeaten Western Dubuque buried Solon, 42-14, in a Rivalry Saturday game last night.

Western Dubuque (10-0, 5-0) is ranked No. 2 in Class 4A and was runnerup in the state tournament last year.

Solon (8-2, 4-1) is ranked No. 12 in Class 3A.

Western Dubuque scored the first six points of the game and was never headed.

The Bobcats forced 22 turnovers, and Solon made only 6 of 46 shots in the game.

'Our defense has won us all of our games this year,” Western Dubuque Coach Amy Ostwinkle said. 'We truly believe if we dig in and protect the lane, that's what it is all about.

'I think we created a lot of our offense from our defense.”

Western Dubuque led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter and 24-6 at halftime.

Simon-Ressler had 15 points in the first half.

'We just came out and wanted to play stronger and faster than the other team,” Simon-Ressler said.

'I think last year set the tone for us and we just want to keep improving.”

Maddy Clark added eight points and nine rebounds for Western Dubuque.

Hannah Bluder's five points paced Solon.

The teams meet again Feb. 6 at Solon.

'They're going to come prepared,” Ostwinkle said of the Wamac rematch.