Wildcats ride free throws to topple Tigers

The Madill starters were guards Aron Vann, Miguel Duran and Exekial Fuentes and forward Trent Harvey and Wyatt Gray.

The Madill Wildcats hosted the Ardmore Tigers JV team.

The matchup against the Class 5A side was a close one as neither team scored during the opening two and a half minutes of the game.

However, the hosts would score first as Duran made a bucket with 5:30 to go in the first quarter.

Fuentes would push the Madill lead to 4-0 at the 4:08 mark.

Ardmore sophomore guard Jordan Mosley would put the Tigers on the board with a bucket moments later. This made the score Madill 4, Ardmore 2.

The Wildcats responded when Gray drained a three from the left side of the arc to make it 7-2.

After an Ardmore free throw, Harvey made a basket to increase the hosts’ lead to 9-3.

On the next possession, forward Stedrick James scored a put back to make it 9-5.

Madill’s Harvey drew a foul on a shot and went to the line for a pair of free throws. The senior forward made the second of his shots to put the Wildcats ahead 10-5.

The next time down the court, Duran had a shot block, but grabbed the lose ball and was fouled on his followup shot. Duran made both free throws to increase Madill’s lead to 12-5. The score would remain the same at the end of the quarter.

Ardmore started the second quarter with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 12-12. But the Wildcats clawed back as Harvey fought three defenders to score and give Madill a 14-12 advantage.

Ard 21 scored close and Harve scored again.

The pace quickened as Ard 12 got a basket of his own to tie it 16-16.

Duran hit a shot from down low to give Madill an 18-16 advantage. But it was brief as Ardmore tied the game 18-18 moments later.

Ardmore’s Arthur scored on a midrange jumper to give the guests a 20-18 lead with a little more than three minutes to go.

Vann intercepted a pass to return the ball to the Wildcats. He was then the recipient of a hard foul and made the first of two shots to make it 20-19.

Gray rebounded the miss and found Harvey inside but the senior could find the bottom of the net. On the other end, freshman forward Bryce Allen scored off the glass to increase the Tiger lead to 22-19.

The Ardmore defense tightened as Madill had the last possession before the halftime whistle. Unfortunately the Wildcats couldn’t convert their last shot before the half and trailed 22-19.

Madill scored first to start the third quarter as Fuentes took contact and found Harvey for a basket down low.

However, Harvey was called for a foul of his own moments later. The call drew boos from crowd.

But the senior forward responded the best way possible on the next possession: by sinking a contested shot down low.

Ardmore’s 22 received a technical after Duran was fouled on a shot. While the call drew applause from the home crowd, the youngster pleaded his case with Ardmore coach Wayne Rogers.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said. “I just clapped and said ‘yes, that was a block.”

Duran made Three of four free throws to give Madill a 26-22 lead.

Ardmore got two points back to make it 26-24. But their momentum was temporaliy halted when Fuentes made a three to make it 29-24.

Jones scored from close range to cut the Madill lead to 29-26.

On the next Ardmore possession, a Harvey foul sent Mosley to the line where he made both free throws to cut the Wildcats lead to 29-28.

Madill struck back as Fuentes kept the ball, dribbled inside and made short step back two.

Ardmore responded quickly with a bucket of their own to make it 31-30.

Madill moved into the bonus after Kaden Blassent fouled Trent Harvey who took two shots. Harvey wasn’t able to convert either attempt.

Blassent was in the thick of it on Ardmore’s next possession, as he and Gray battled for a rebound. The young Tiger was called for this second foul but the Wildcats couldn’t take advantage.

The Wildcats started the fourth quarter with a narrow 31-30 advantage. Lolo Ortega made one of two free throws to push the lead to 32-30.

Ardmore’s foul trouble continued as they were hit with their tenth personal foul with 6:06 to go in the fourth quarter. That meant Madill got two shots. Duran made one of two go increase Madill’s lead to 33-30.

On the next play, Duran stole ball and pushed it down the floor. After multiple passes by the Wildcat offense, Duran took and missed an open three from the left side.

The Tigers capitalized as Jalen Reed made a two-point basket to cut the Madill lead to 33-32.

Another Ardmore foul led to a Wyatt Gray free throw to make it 34-32.

The game remained tight as the clocked ticked toward the two-minute mark.

Gray hit a deep two with 1:30 to go to give Madill some cushion and a 36-32 advantage. However, the Wildcats were caught off guard as Arthur rebounded a missed free throw and scored on the put back. The score cut Madill’s lead to 36-34.

The Tigers switched to a full court press which nearly forced a turnover. However, Vann drew contact while dribbling and went to the line for two shots. He sank both to make it 38-34.

On the next possession, Arthur’s midrange shot rolled in and out of the basket before Duran rebounded the ball and was fouled. He made both shots to increase the Wildcat lead to 40-34 with 35.8 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

Mosley hit a three off the backboard with 21.3 seconds go to cut the Madill lead to 40-37.

The Ardmore full court press led to a triple team on Vann but to no avail as the senior found Fuentes on the left side where he was fouled by Allen. Fuentes made one of his two shots to make it 41-40.

But the Tigers weren’t done as Mosley found Allen for a three to cut it to 41-40 with 0.6 seconds to go.

Ardmore took a short timeout ahead of Madill’s inbound pass. However, with limited time remaining, Fuentes received the ball and was able to run out the clock.