HS Boys Basketball Report By ALAN BRAKE

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R-2 BASKETBALL WILDCATS END REGUAR SEASON WITH COURTWARMING WIN

The Montgomery County R-2 Wildcats Boys’ basketball team ended their 2012-13 regular season with an impressive 60-37 win over Silex in the annual Court Warming game last Friday, February 15.  Prior to that win however, the Wildcats lost to Elsberry 61-45 on Friday, February 8, and also lost to Community R-VI 56-43 on Monday, February 11. 

The Wildcats were in need of a win last Friday, having lost their 3 previous games.  They also wanted to help R-2 Head Coach Adam Meyer continue his celebration of the birth of his second child (and daughter), who was born on Thursday.

The first quarter of the Silex game was tight, with the Wildcats scoring the first 5 points and Silex scoring the next 5 to tie the game with 5:09 left in the quarter.  From that point the Wildcats outscored Silex 10-4 to take a 15-9 lead at the end of the quarter, a lead they would never relinquish.

Silex did outscore R-2 5-3 in the first 3½ minutes of the second quarter to close the score to 18-14.  It was at that point that Coach Meyer called a timeout to settle things down.  Whatever Coach Meyer said worked, as the Wildcats proceeded to go on a 12-0 scoring run over the next 3:19 to take a 30-14 lead.  Silex did score the last 2 points of the quarter to make the score 30-16 at halftime.

Silex scored the first 2 points of the third quarter, but then the Wildcats’ defense held Silex scoreless for the next 5:11.  During that time the Wildcats scored 14 points to increase their lead to 44-18.  The score at the end of the third quarter was 47-19.

The game was already decided when the fourth quarter began.  Silex was able to cut into the Wildcats’ lead a little bit, outscoring R-2 18-13 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough and the Wildcats won 60-37.

Unfortunately, I forgot to get the information after the game concerning the Wildcats’ individual scoring.  Also, information concerning other key stats (rebounds, steals assists) was not available when this report was written.

In the Elsberry game the previous Friday, the Indians were able to gradually build and maintain their lead throughout the game.  Elsberry outscored the Wildcats 15-13 in the first quarter, and then outscored R-2 17-11 in the second quarter to lead 32-24 at halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same, as Elsberry outscored the Wildcats 19-12 to lead 51-36 at the end of the quarter.  The score was much closer in the fourth quarter, as Elsberry only outscored the Wildcats 10-9 making the final score 61-45.

Cameron Parrish led the Wildcats in scoring with 23 points (6 field goal/FGs, 3 3-pointers, and 2 free throws/FTs).  He was followed in the scoring by Jerad Jordan with 12 points (1 FG/1 3-pointer/6 FTs), Justin Hall with 5 points (1 FG/3 FTs), Jackson Bishop with 3 points (1 3-pointer), Jacob Davis with 2 points (1 FG), and Brian Davis with 1 point (1 FT).  Dylan Skeens, Chase Worsham, and Kyle Kroll also played but did not score.

In other key stats, Parrish led the team in rebounds with 4.  Jordan led the team in steals with 4.  Bishop led the team in assists with 4.

The Wildcats hoped to bounce back on Monday in their game against Community R-VI, and secure second place in the final EMO Conference standings.  Unfortunately, it was Community that went on the scoring runs this time and not the Wildcats (like R-2 did in the Silex game).

Just like the Silex game the first quarter was tightly played, as the score was tied 4 times and there were 5 lead changes in the first 5 minutes of the game.  However, R-VI ended the quarter with a 4-0 scoring run to lead 17-13.

Community then hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter to (making it a 7-0 run) lead 20-13.  The Wildcats made their first basket of the quarter at the 7:12 mark to make the score 20-15, but then did not score for the next 5:19.  Community scored 11 points during that same time to take a 31-15.  R-2 finally ended the quarter (1:53) with a 5-0 run of its own, to close the score to 31-20 at halftime.

Unfortunately, Community started the third quarter with an 8-0 scoring run to increase its lead to 39-20 and the Wildcats were unable to fully recover.  The Wildcats did outscore R-VI 9-4 over the last 6 minutes of the third quarter to make the score 43-29.

Once again, Community started the final quarter with a 4-1 run to increase its lead back to 47-30 with 5:44 left in the game.  The Wildcats were able to cut Community’s lead to 9 points twice in the last 2 minutes of the game (50-41 and 52-43), but could not get any closer.  A 4-0 run by Community at the end of the game gave R-VI the 56-43 win.

Parrish led the team in scoring with 20 points (4 FGs/4 3-pointers).  He was followed in the scoring by Jordan with 12 points (2 FGs/1 3-pointer/5 FTs), Hall with 4 points (2 FGs), Kroll with 3 points (1 FG/1 FT), and Worsham and J. Davis with 2 points each (1 FG each).  B. Davis, Bishop and Skeens also played but did not score.

Information concerning other key stats (rebounds, steals, assists) was not available when this report was written.

With these games the Wildcats’ overall record going into the Missouri District 6 Playoff Tournament this week is 14 wins and 10 losses.  This is the first winning season and the most wins for the Wildcat Boys’ program in several years. 

Also, all three of these games were East Missouri (EMO) Conference games, giving the Wildcats’ a final conference record of 6 wins and 3 losses. This record placed them in a tie for third place (10 teams) with North Callaway (and possibly Clopton), behind the conference winner Elsberry and second place Community R-VI.

This week the Wildcats play in the Missouri District 6 Tournament for Class 3 schools (there are 5 classes in Missouri, based on high school enrollment numbers).  The tournament is at North Callaway High School.  On Tuesday, February 19, they play Wright City at 7:30.  If they win that game, they will play on Thursday, February 21, at 7:30 against the winner of the Hermann vs. North Callaway game (also played Tuesday).  The Championship Game is Saturday, February 23, at 7:00 p.m.  As is the case for all of the teams in the district tournaments and the state playoffs, the Wildcats must win each game for their season to continue.

Congratulations to the Wildcats on a successful regular season that ended with a winning record.  Also, “Best Wishes” to the Wildcats and coaches as you play in the District 6 Tournament!