The West Central Valley Girls Basketball Team had a chance for the win in their first game of the new season on Monday, but came up just short 37-36 to Creston in Stuart.

The Wildcats and Panthers played a pretty tightly contested game, as Creston held a slight 14-13 after the first quarter. The Panthers extended it to 25-20 to have some breathing room at the halftime break. Creston would go up by as many as eight points in the third quarter and had a 35-29 advantage going into the fourth. 

However, West Central Valley did not quit while trailing 35-31, when sophomore Zoey Reicks hit a big three pointer to cut the deficit to one at 35-34. Then the score was stuck at 37-36 for the final two minutes, and junior Addilynn Richter had a nice look at a three pointer as time expired, but was unable to hit it, resulting in the Panthers hanging on for a 37-36 win.

Creston is now 2-0 on the year and will be back home to host Winterset this coming Monday, and WCV, who is now 0-1, will hit the road to Lamoni this Monday for their second contest.