Boys Earn 2nd in SC Tourn

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WILDCATS EARN 2^ND PLACE IN SC TOURNEY

The Montgomery County R-2 Wildcats 2011-12 boy’s basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to Centralia on January 6, by pulling off two upsets in the South Callaway Tournament last week before losing in the Championship Game last Saturday.  On Tuesday, January 10, the Wildcats (#6 seed in the tourney) upset Harrisburg (#3 seed) by the score of 71-61.  Then on Thursday, January 12, they upset New Haven (#2 seed) by the score of 37-28.  On Saturday, January 14, they lost 58-32 to Hermann in the Championship Game.

This was the first time in several years that an R-2 Varsity Boys’ team had played in the Championship Game of any tournament.  With these games the Wildcats’ overall record is 6 wins and 7 losses.

The Wildcats played the Harrisburg game (and the rest of the tournament) without Senior starting guard Taylor Deves, who suffered an ankle injury in the pre-game warm-ups.  In a turnover-filled, foul-plagued game, the Wildcats came out strong and jumped out to a 19-10 lead by the end of the opening quarter.  Harrisburg outscored R-2 15-12 in the second quarter and closed the gap to 31-25 at halftime. 

The Wildcats used great free throw shooting (making 9 of 11) to outscore Harrisburg 20-12 in the third quarter and extend their lead to 51-37.  The Wildcats pushed their lead to 18 points with five minutes left in the game, but a flurry of turnovers allowed Harrisburg to get back to within 5 points with just over two minutes remaining.  The Wildcats again stepped up with a barrage of free throws in the fourth quarter (making 14 of 16) to pull away and finish with a hard earned 71-61 win.  The Cats made 27of 33 free throws for the game, which helped overcome their 29 turnovers and sent the Wildcats into the winner’s bracket for the second round game against New Haven.

Jerad Jordan led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points (2 field goals/FGs, 1 3-pointer and 9 for 9 free throws/FTs).  He was followed in the scoring by Andrew Gaines with 13 points (1 FG/1 3-pointer/8 of 10 FTs), Caleb Davis with 11 points (3 FGs/1 3-pointer/2 for 2 FTs), Cameron Parrish and Nick Oden with 9 points each (Parrish 4 FGs/1 FT and Oden 3 FGs/3 FTs), Tim Kroll with 8 points (2 FGs/1 3-pointer/1 FT), and Jacob Davis with 5 points (1 FG/3 FTs).

In other key stats for R-2, Caleb Davis paced Montgomery with 7 rebounds and Jared Jordan had 4 assists.

As is usually the case in a game against New Haven, defense (not offense) was at the forefront, and unlike Tuesday’s game this one was a low-scoring affair.  In classic New Haven style, Head Coach Ray Steinhoff’s Shamrock squad controlled the tempo of the game, but Montgomery battled and jumped out to a 13-9 lead by the end of the first quarter.  Both teams’ defenses tightened up in the second quarter as NH outscored R-2 6-4, to give R-2 a 17-15 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter NH continued to control the tempo of the game and outscored R-2 12-7, to close the quarter with a 25-24 lead.  However, the resilient Wildcats clamped down on the defensive end in the fourth quarter and closed out the game on a 13-3 run (making 6 of 8 free throws in the last 2 minutes) to complete their second “upset” victory of the week by the score of 37-28.  The victory advanced the Wildcats to the Championship Game of the tournament (and for the first time in any tournament in several years).

Jordan once again led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points (4 FGs/1 3-pointer and 5 FTs).  He was followed in the scoring by Kroll with 10 points (2 FGs/2 3-pointers), Ryan Knipfel with 4 points (2 FGs), Cameron Parrish with 3 points (1 3-pointer), and C. Davis and Gaines with 2 points each (Davis 1 FG and Gaines 2 FTs).  Andrew Gaines led R-2 in rebounds with 5.