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Brylan James defends during the Madill v Crooked Oak game on December 18, 2021. Bre Eppler -
Nick Northcutt lines up for a free throw during the Wildcats v Ruf-Nex game. Bre Eppler -
RJ Morris prepares to shoot a free throw during the Comet Holiday Classic. Bre Eppler
The Madill basketball teams traveled to Dickson December 16, 17 and 18 to play in the second annual Comet Holiday Classic. The Lady Cats played the Oklahoma City Knights on Thursday morning and won 52 to 20. Head Coach Shawn Runyan said even though it was a win, it was a rough start.
“It took us a little while to get going, and I wasn’t really happy with that,” he said.
The Lady Cats defense was on point allowing only seven points for the Lady Knights in the first half. Senior Jayden Weiberg and sophomore Haylee Elkins were lead scorers for Madill in the first half with nine points each. Madill led at halftime, 33 to 7. The Lady Cats offense scored 16 points in the second half with Weiberg and sophomore Allyson Knight leading the team with five points each.
The next game of the tour nament was the Wildcats and the Durant Lions. Madill won 24 to 14. The first half ended with the Wildcats leading 14 to 6. Junior RJ Morris led the Wildcats in the first half with six points. Head coach Brett Weiberg said he was pleased with the win.
“The Durant game was a low possession game,” said Weiberg. “I thought our kids did a good job defensively and played hard possession after possession.”
In the second half, Ma dill led scored 10 points to Durant’s 8 points. Weiberg said, “we settled down and took care of the ball in the second half.”
The Lady Cats played the Dickson Lady Comets in Friday night’s game losing a tough played game, 51 to 45. Madill led 21 to 19 going into halftime. Weiberg led the Lady Cats in the first half of play with 15 points. Runyan said Weiberg fought and played hard.
“Jayden plays the whole game, face guarded and double teamed all the time and still makes things happen,” said Runyan.
The Lady Comets outscored the Lady Cats 32 to 24 in the second half. Weiberg led Madill with eight points. Runyan cited rebounds for the loss.
“We gave up way too many defensive rebounds,” said Runyan. “We didn’t do a good enough job keeping them off the boards.”
After the girls played, the Wildcats played the Oklahoma City Knights, winning 56 to 33. The Wildcats led at halftime 25 to 21 with senior Ezekiel Fuentes lead scorer with 12 points.
“Our kids played one of the better games of the year so far,” said Weiberg. “We had six turnovers and really moved the ball well. I thought we crash the office of glass well and it really paid off for us in terms of getting us more possessions.”
Madill outscored the Knights 31 to 12 in the second half of play, with Fuentes lead scorer with nine points. Weiberg said the boys did it again.
“Once again we defended well and rebounded the ball well and took care of the ball,” Weiberg said. “When we do those things, we are pretty hard to beat.”
On Saturday’s game, the Lady Cats played the Marietta Lady Indians, losing 49 to 41, taking fourth place in the tournament. Madill trailed Marietta, 15 to 17 at halftime.
Weiberg led the Lady Cats with six points in the first half. Runyan praised the girls for their hard work.
“Jayden had an off game for her. She still did great, just couldn’t hit from the outside,” said Runyan. Knight led Madill in the second half with 11 points. “Allyson came in and played really good,” Runyan said. “Defensively we gave up too many rebounds again. Marietta got 12 points off second shots. It was a good tournament. We played hard and either of the two losses could have went either way.”
Weiberg made all-tournament team.
The Wildcats played for the championship and won it against Crooked Oak Ruf-Nex, 37 to 21. Fuentes was the lead scorer in the first half with seven points. Madill led the first half 20 to 13.
“Ezekiel did a tremendous job on the best scorer who averaged over 20 points per game,” said Weiberg. “It was a very good win for us. Crooked Oak was 8-1 and they are a solid team.”
Madill led the second half scoring 17 points with Crooked Oak scoring eight. Fuentes and senior Nick Northcutt led the scoring with three points each.
“We finally got into a groove offensively against their zone and was able to get the ball into the interior,” Weiberg said. “We moved the ball well. Our entire team did a good job. The bench energy was amazing, and you can’t over emphasize how important that is.”
Madill will travel to Dickson on Tuesday, January 7, 2022, to play the Comets.