Frontier’s Willow Smitley (22) knocks the ball away from Waterford’s Shaeli Hayes Monday night at the Hank Morus Gymnasium. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

NEW MATAMORAS – In what was expected to be a rebuilding year the defending state champion Waterford Wildcats sure took their share of lumps over the first half of the 2025-26 season.

The young Wildcats have continued to improve as the season has moved along and are now getting the chance to revenge some losses they suffered earlier in the season.

Monday night, the Lady Wildcats traveled to Frontier and handed the Cougars a 61-36 loss to move back over the .500 mark on the season at 9-8.

Back in the December, the Wildcats scored just 25 points in a three-point loss to Frontier at home – a vast difference this time around.

“We played really well in spots – tonight we’ve just still got to learn to be a little more patient,” said Waterford coach Jerry Close. “There were a lot of things that we did tonight that I was happy with and you can see some growth and improvement.”

Waterford’s Brynlee Pottmeyer gets ready to put up a shot around a host of Frontier defenders Monday evening at Frontier High School. The Wildcats downed the Cougars 61-36. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Senior Elsie Malec led the way for the Wildcats with 22 points as they jumped out to an early lead and pretty much ran away and hid from a Cougar team that came into the game winners of three of their last four games.

The Wildcats scored the first 10 points of the game as they forced the Cougars into eight first quarter turnovers.

Frontier got a two-pointer from freshman Addison Edgar to close out the first quarter and a two-pointer from senior Anna Bowersock to open the second as they cut the Wildcat lead to 16-9.

The Wildcats quickly answered that run with eight straight points of their own including a field goal from Ava Hurley and back-to-back triples from Brynlee Pottmeyer and Shaeli Hayes to increase their lead to 17.

Frontier took a bite out of the Wildcat lead when Willow Smitley rang the ball from long distance but Waterford got back-to-back buckets by Hurley and Malec to increase their lead to 28-10.

Frontier’s Willow Smitley pulls up for a short jumper around a whole host of Waterford defenders Monday night at The Hank. Smitley scored a team-high 13 points but the Cougars fell to Waterford 61-36. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

That 18-point margin is how the first half would end as Malec and Frontier senior Keeley Barrows traded triples in the closing minute of the first half.

Frontier desperately needed a great start to the second half to have any chance of getting back in the ball game and that would be anything but the case as the visitors instead opened the second half up with a 7-0 run of their own that blew things wide open.

Malec got things started with a 3-pointer before freshman Zoey Smithberger scored four points in a row, the latter coming in transition after she stole the ball away from the Cougars.

Frontier did manage to whittle the lead down to 14 at one point in the third quarter but that would be as close as they could get as the Wildcats cruised to the win.

Among Malec’s 22 points were three from behind the arc.

Waterford’s Brynlee Pottmeyer readies a shot while being guarded by Frontier’s Keeley Barrows Monday night at Frontier High School. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The Wildcat senior has played in a lot of huge basketball games and her presence on the court is a huge boost for the Waterford team.

“Elsie’s not been scoring a whole lot lately so it was nice to see her have a really good game,” said Close. “She gets defended a lot harder this year than in the past and it’s been hard for her to get shots off.”

Malec also picked up three steals and dished out three assists while Pottmeyer and Hurley finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.

Hayes had a strong game in the post as she scored six points while leading her team with eight rebounds.

“She (Hayes) did a really good job and she has really been working hard,” said Close. “It’s a big change from junior high to high school but she’s been working and doing extra things on the side and you can see it starting to pay off for her.”

Smitley led the way for the Cougars as she knocked down four triples in the game and finished with 13 points to go along with five steals.

Edgar chipped in with 12 points while Bowersock added eight points and eight boards while dishing out three assists for the Cougars.

Frontier head coach Mike Cisler was pleased with his team’s effort although disappointed with the result.

“We just came out of the gate with a slow start and Waterford made us pay for it,” said Cisler. “We turned the ball over too much early but I was proud of the way we responded and kept battling.”

The Cougars hope to right the ship Thursday night when they take on Belpre at the St. Marys basketball tournament.

“We will be okay – we have just got to keep working,” said Cisler. “We will get back in the gym and come out ready to play Belpre.”

Waterford will welcome Trimble on Thursday night as they look to continue the positive steps they have been taking.

“Trimble is on an eight or nine game winning streak so we will have our hands full on Thursday,” said Close. “We’ve got some tough games coming over the next couple of weeks but I like the way we are headed and will just keep working at it hoping to get better every day.”