Your Prep Sports

There is a lot of basketball to be played before the River Valley Conference title will be determined or postseason pairings will be announced.

Even with a lot of season remaining West Branch gave itself an early leg up in the RVC race and made a statement about its postseason positioning on Friday.

West Branch held Cascade to 12 second-half points on its way to a 32-27 win over the sixth-ranked Cougars in a River Valley Conference cross-divisional matchup in West Branch.

Freshman August Palmer hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points as West Branch improved to 5-0 on the season.

Cascade dropped to 4-1 with the loss.

Palmer snapped a 24-all tie with a 3-pointer with 6:24 left and later gave West Branch a 30-26 cushion with her second 3-pointer of the quarter with 3:10 left.

Delaynie Luneckas and Palmer each hit a free throw in the final minutes to help the Bears put the game away.

Palmer finished with four rebounds and three steals to go with her game-high 15 points.

Luneckas had eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a block for West Branch while Sadie Smith added six points.

West Branch                          8  4  10  10  –  32

Cascade                                  9  6   7    5   –  27

West Branch (32) – August Palmer 15, Delaynie Luneckas 8, Sadie Smith 6, Kylie Pickett 3

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