Along with several other area teams, the Madill Wildcats participated in the 2020 Wampus Cat Classic, hosted by Atoka High School, this weekend.
The Lady Wildcats lost Thursday night 55-35 to Pauls Valley but defeated the Durant Junior Varsity squad Friday night to advance to the Consolation Championship game Jan. 25, where they lost to the Durant Lady Lions varsity team 60-54 in two overtimes.
The boys’ team had better luck, defeating Latta 43-41 Thursday to advance, but dropping their second-round game to Durant 42-29 Friday, which put them in the third-place game against the Pauls Valley Panthers Saturday night.
The Wildcats entered the game 10-5, while the Panthers’ record stood at 10-6, making the teams evenly matched.
The Wildcats ultimately prevailed, defeating Pauls Valley 56-50 to take the third-place trophy.
The first quarter was sloppy for both teams.
Pauls Valley won the tip, but turned the ball over their first three possessions, finally scoring on the Panthers’ fourth possession for the first points of the game.
The Panthers then went ice-cold against the tough Madill defense, scoring their second bucket from the field at the 3-minute mark in the first quarter.
Madill was initially cold from the field as well, scoring its first points on the Wildcats’ fourth possession from the free throw line, but the Wildcats heated up down the stretch, and after a turnover-filled quarter led the Panthers 14-6.
The second quarter proved to be more of the same, as Pauls Valley struggled to score; only the Panthers’ superior offensive rebounding kept them in the game.
Pauls Valley proved to be particularly cold from beyond the arc, and despite multiple attempts only hit their first three-pointer halfway through the quarter to cut Madill’s lead to 18-11. Meanwhile, Madill also struggled to score, until sophomore Ezekiel Fuentes heated up down the stretch, faking his defender off his feet and burying a three with two minutes left.
The next possession, Fuentes made a great move to the basket and hit a layup and drew a foul but was unable to convert the three-point play.
Madill’s tough defense drew plenty of foul calls in the period, but Pauls Valley was unable to take advantage, and the Wildcats took at 23-15 lead into half.
Madill began to take over the game in the third quarter. Junior Miguel Duran scored six of his thirteen points for the game in that period, showing off nice moves on a short jumper and following up with a layup, but then showing toughness on the next possession as his first attempt was blocked by junior Chasen Jolley, but he recovered and put it back for the bucket.
Fittingly, Pauls Valley junior Jose Fabela missed two free throws at the end of the period, and Madill led 41-26 after three