WILDCATS WIN 2 OF 3 GAMES, INCLUDING "COUNTY TROPHY" GAME AGAINST W-M

WILDCATS WIN 2 OF 3 GAMES, INCLUDING “COUNTY TROPHY” GAME AGAINST W-M

The Montgomery County R-2 Wildcats basketball team played 3 games last week and for the second week in a row they were able to win 2 of those games.  On Tuesday, January 17, they defeated Wright City 56-44 in an East Missouri (EMO) Conference game.  On Thursday, January 19, they once again won the “County Trophy” game against cross-county rival Wellsville-Middletown winning the game 58-26.  However, the following night, Friday, January 20, the Wildcats had no answer against Elsberry and lost 63-30 in an EMO Conference game. With these games the Wildcats’ overall record is 8 wins and 8 losses.  Their EMO Conference record is 3-2.After pulling off 2 upsets the previous week in the South Callaway Tournament, the Wildcats were sluggish at best in the early going of the Wright City game on Tuesday.  In addition, starting guard Jerad Jordan went down with a leg injury in the first quarter and two other Wildcat starters got in early foul trouble.  Fortunately for the Wildcats, guard Taylor Deves returned from an ankle injury in the first game of the SC Tournament and had a career game, with 20 points (making 14 of 19 free throws), 6 assists and 4 steals.

With R-2’s sluggishness in the first quarter, Wright City was able to take an 11-9 lead at the end of the first quarter (Wright City scored only 15 points for the whole game between these teams, which was played in December).  The Wildcats outscored WC 14-10 in the second quarter to take a 23-21 lead at halftime.  WC came back and outscored R-2 15-12 in the third quarter to retake the lead at 36-35.  However, led by solid defense, two 3-pointers by Caleb Davis and 10 of14 free throw shooting by the team, the Wildcats were able to outscore Wright City 21-8 in the last quarter and won the game 56-44.

As was mentioned earlier, Deves led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points (3 field goals/FGs and 14 free throws/FTs). He was followed in the scoring by C. Davis with 10 points (1 FG/2 3-pointers/2 FTs), Cameron Parrish with 8 points (1 FG/2 3-pointers), Ryan Knipfel with 6 points (2 FGs/2 FTs), Tim Kroll with 5 points (1 FG/1 3-pointer), Robert Gaines with 3 points (1 FG/1 FT), and Andrew Gaines and Jacob Davis with 2 points each (both with 1 FG).

In addition to Deves’ 6 assists and 4 steals, C. Davis had 5 steals.  In rebounding, Parrish led the team with 6, followed by Knipfel and A. Gaines with 5 each.

In the “County Trophy” game against Wellsville-Middletown, the Wildcats used scoring runs of 7-0 and 6-0 in the first quarter and 7-0 and 10-0 in the second quarter to put the game away by halftime.  R-2 outscored W-M 19-11 in the first quarter and 17-7 in the second quarter to lead 36-18 at halftime.  The third quarter was pretty much the same, as R-2 outscored W-M 22-8 to take a 58-26 lead.  In the fourth quarter R-2 outscored W-M 6-4 to come away with a 64-30 win and once again won the “County Trophy”.

Parrish led the Wildcats in scoring with 14 points (5 FGs/1 3-pointer/1 FT).  He was followed in the scoring by Deves and Jordan with 9 points each (Deves 4 FGs/1 FT and Jordan with 1 FG/1 3-pointer/4 FTs), C. Davis and A. Gaines with 8 points each (Davis with 2 FGs/1 3-pointer/1 FT and Gaines with 3 FGs/2 FTs), Knipfel and J. Davis with 6 points each (each had 3 FGs) and T. Kroll with 4 points (2 FGs).  Sam Kroll and R. Gaines also played in the game, but did not score.

In other key stats for R-2, Parrish led the Wildcats with 9 rebounds, followed by A. Gaines with 7.  Deves led the team in assists with 6.

Playing their second game in 2 nights and their sixth game in 11 days, the Wildcats never got going Friday against a very talented Elsberry team.  Elsberry jumped out to a 20-7 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.  The scores at the end of each quarter were as follows:  Halftime 34-11; Third Quarter 58-23; and the final score was 63-30.

C. Davis led R-2 in scoring with 9 points.  He was followed in the scoring by Jordan with 6 points, J. Davis with 4 points, Parrish and T. Kroll with 3 points each, and Deves, A. Gaines and Knipfel with 2 points each.  Deves led the team in assists with 4.  No one had more than 3 rebounds.

This week the Wildcats play in the Hermann Tournament, as do the Lady Wildcats.  The Wildcats (seeded 5^th) play their first game Tuesday, January 24, against Chamois (#4 seed), at 7:30, at the High School Gym.  R-2’s next game is Thursday, January 26, at 6:00, against either Hermann (#1 seed) or Wright City (#8 seed).  If the Wildcats win Tuesday’s game, they will play at the High School on Thursday.  If they lose on Tuesday, they will play at the Middle School.  They will also play a third game on Saturday, January 28, at the High School.  The time of the game will be determined by how R-2 does on Tuesday and Thursday.

Next week the Wildcats play 2 EMO Conference games.  On Tuesday, January 31, they will play at Bowling Green.  On Friday, February 3, they will host Winfield.  Also, at Friday’s game there will be a special ceremony and celebration for the naming of the High School Gym floor after former R-2 Basketball Coaches Bill Ballew and Jim Snell.  On both nights the Jr. Varsity will play the first game, starting at 6:00 p.m., which will be followed by the Varsity game.

The Wildcat players and coaches hope you will come to their games and cheer them on to victory.  They also encourage you to attend the games and floor dedication on February 3, to honor Coach Ballew and Coach Snell.  Go Wildcats!