The Wildcats tipped off against close county rivals the Churchill Bulldogs on Tuesday, Feb. 27, ultimately losing 48-53.
The season finale contained immense amounts of pride and effort from the Wildcat’s squad, although falling short by such a short margin, there is a lot to look forward to for next season.
The Wildcats played a strong first half, which was necessary if they wanted a chance at defeating the high-powered Bulldogs team. From forcing turnovers to converting tough shots, the Wildcats were firing on all cylinders to hold a comfortable 34-20 lead going into the half.
However, it started to fall apart at the start of the second half. Sloppy possessions leading to quick scores for the Bulldogs were all it took to reel Churchill to a 6-point deficit ending the third quarter.
Defensively, the Wildcats were late on switches and lacked overall effort when it came to closing out shots, which shouldn’t happen against a team that can get hot quickly from behind the arc.
“They made some tough shots but we also had a lot of lapses in communication leading to them getting open shots and gaining confidence,” senior Ian Hochman said.
Following a 5-0 run to put the Cats behind 41-42, the Bulldogs never looked back as they played a smart brand of basketball, chewing the clock as much as possible possession by possession, concluding the 2023-2024 season in depressing fashion.
“Churchill obviously played a lot better in the second half. Once they got the momentum on their side, we just couldn’t get it back. In the 4th quarter, we just couldn’t make a shot. We only scored 6 points in the 4th quarter and made 1-13 shot attempts,” coach Kevin Parrish said
Overall the Cats posted an 11-13 record including their postseason matchup, which is a frustrating sub-.500 record for the team after having the goal of going over .500 this season.
“It was a very tough ending to the season and I was disappointed that it had to end on a loss like that,” junior Jordan Silverstein said.
Although the season has come to an end, there is a lot to look forward to for next year’s team.
“We had 11 seniors on the team this year, so obviously we will have a much different team next year. We are still set up for success though with a solid core of returning players including Jordan Silverstein, Will Kreisle, Ben Cufre, and Jeremiah Scott. We also have a good group of JV players that will be moving up. I’m excited to see how next season plays out,” Parrish said.
