Wildcats end season with close contest

By Coach Chris Harris

On Tuesday, February 24, in the opening round of the Class 3 District 9 tournament, the Wildcats traveled to Cabool and faced off against the Houston Tigers.

The Cats welcomed the return of Benton Corley, who had missed the regular season recovering from knee surgery, and he started out hot, hitting three deep 3’s in the first quarter. The Cats led 16-6 after the first. The second quarter was a defensive back and forth, and shots were hard to come by, with Houston getting back within seven at the half. The Cats came out of the locker room hot to start the third quarter, scoring 24 points and hitting six 3’s as a team. With tough defense in the fourth, the Cats came out with the win 62-49 and advanced to the next round. Benton Corley had 20 points and Karson Walker added 16 points with 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

On Thursday in the second round, the Wildcats faced the first seed Mtn. View Liberty.

The Cats started slow but continued to work hard in the first half, keeping the score close. Licking was down 9 at halftime. In the second half, the Cats fought back, scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter and closing the scoring gap to one point with 4.4 seconds left in the game. After fouling and sending a Liberty player to the free throw line (he made both), the Cats got an open shot from half court to tie, but it fell short, ending the Cats’ season 67-64.

Karson Walker had 25 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds, Benton Corley added 15 points and 6 rebounds, Logan Buckner had 9 points, and Conway Adey added 8 points and 8 rebounds.

The Cats finished the season 14-12 and 7-1 in the Frisco League.

“I couldn’t have been prouder of how hard they played and worked together.” ~ Coach Chris Harris