Wildcats hit dead end at District

The Madill Wildcats basketball teams traveled to Blanchard on Tuesday, February 23, to open District play against the Blanchard Lions. The Lady Wildcats got the action started, struggling to keep up with the Lady Lions pace. Blanchard scored 33 points in the first half, with Madill only scoring 24. Junior Jayden Weiberg led the Lady Wildcats with 14 total points. Head Coach Shawn Runyan attributes loss to the freak snowstorm that passed through the county.

“This not the time of year to take off seven days, but Mother Nature said otherwise,” Runyan said. “We started flat in the first quarter, then we started playing well in the second quarter.”

Even with the better plays in the second quarter, Madill could not keep up. They only scored eight points in the second half, and the Lady Lions scoring 39 points. Juniors Abbie Lambertsen had five points and Braylee Schneider had four points. “

We played super flat in the third quarter and it got away from us,” said Runyan. “Blanchard is really good so you have to play all four quarters against them.”

The Wildcats also played Blanchard and kept up with the Lions in the first half. The Lions scored 14 points and the Wildcats scored 10 points. Senior Miguel Duran led the Wildcats with 10 total points. Head Coach Brett Weiberg said a few things went wrong during the game.

“It was a tough night for us,” Weiberg said. “We did not shoot the ball well at all and some of that has to be credited to Blanchard’s defense.” The second half was rough for the Wildcats, scoring only 18 points and allowing the Lions to score 33 points. The Wildcats lost 28 to 47. Weiberg said his team played well, even though they lost.

“I thought we defended well for the better part of the game but we just could not make shots,” said Weiberg. Other top scorers were Juniors Ezekiel Fuentes with seven points and Nick Northcutt with six points.

On Thursday, Feb 25, Madill traveled to Ada to open up the regionals play. The Lady Wildcats played against the Ada Lady Cougars, where Madill struggled to keep Ada’s fast pace. By halftime, Madill trailed Ada, 27 to 12. Junior Jayden Weiberg led the team with eight points, followed by Senior Ximena Gomez with six points. The Lady Cougars put the pres sure on the Lady Wildcats in the second half, with Madill losing the game 48 to 33.

The Lady Wildcats ended their season 9-13. Runyan said the girls worked hard and played well.

“We had a good season even through the covid breaks, holiday breaks, bad weather breaks the team came in and worked hard,” said Runyan. “It seemed like every time we would get started playing good then something would happen and we would be off a week or two. They worked hard and played hard and as coach, that’s all you can ask for.”

To continue the boys’ part of the regionals, the Wildcats played the Stigler Panthers. With Junior Ezekiel Fuentes leading the Wildcats with 17 points, Madill led 25 to 19 at halftime. Weiberg said he is proud of the boys and how they played.

“I'm proud of the kids. We played hard and competed,” Weiberg said. “I thought we defended and rebounded well and took care of the ball.”

Senior Miguel Duran helped with adding 16 points and Junior Kendall Robertson had 10 points. This led to a Wildcat victory 54 to 41. This win advanced Madill to the second round of regionals. Weiberg said he knew exactly where their deficit was and what they needed to do to advance in the regionals.

“We need to shoot better from the FT line if we are going to have a chance to advance,” said Weiberg.

On Friday, February 26, the Wildcats traveled back to Ada to play the McClain Titans. The Titans put pressure on the Wildcats allowing them to only score three points in the first quarter. By halftime, Madill trailed 12 to 22. Senior Miguel Duran led the Wildcats with 14 points. Weiberg said they turned the ball over too much to make any headway in the game.

“Our guys played hard and defended well,” said Weiberg. “We turned the ball over too much and you cannot score if you don't take care of the ball.”

Senior Mason Coles helped Madill with seven points. The Wildcats could not bounce back in the second half, losing the game 30 to 39. It was a bitter sweet moment for Weiberg, because it was the last game for three of his players.

“I am proud of our three seniors, Miguel, Mason and Gael,” Weiberg said. “We are going to miss them. We have several underclass men that I look forward to working with this summer. Overall, I am proud of how we competed this year and look forward to taking the steps we need to improve.”