After falling to the Central Heights Vikings earlier this season, the Yates Center Wildcats won when it mattered most.
The Wildcats opened the postseason Friday with a 54-46 victory over the Vikings in the opening round of the substate tournament and head on the road Wednesday to face the second-seed Southeast Lancers, another team who defeated Yates Center earlier this season.
“This was mirroring our first matchup — one good quarter followed a few not so good quarters,” Yates Center coach Lane Huffman said. “This time around, the guys accepted the challenge and churned out an 18-point third quarter. We talked about turning their 3-point misses into run-out layups and we achieved that several times to push our lead.”
Yates Center ended the first half with a 13-11 lead, but Central Heights went on a 14-9 run in the second quarter to take a 25-22 lead into halftime. The Wildcats held the Vikings to single digits while going on an 18-point run in the third quarter and continued pushing the pace in the fourth despite a strong effort from Central Heights.
“We played with some energy and intensity in the first quarter that we knew we needed,” Huffman said. “We lost that spark in the second, specifically on the defensive end of the court. We gave up some second-chance opportunities and sent them to the free throw line too many times.”
Once the dust settled, sophomore guard Ben Cook ended the night with a team-leading 26 points, followed by junior guard Evan McVey with 10 points, sophomore guard Marcus Cummings with six, and sophomore guard Gavin Busteed, junior forward Jeremiah Jones and sophomore forward Jacob Smoot with four points each.
“We made good adjustments defensively in the second half, throwing a few different schemes at them to keep them out of a rhythm,” Huffman said. “The Yates Center teams of years past haven’t been able to shift and adjust like this year’s group can. I am proud of their focus and effort.”
With the win, the Wildcats improved their record to 13-11. They face Southeast Wednesday. The Lancers enter the contest as the Three Rivers League runner-up at 12-2 and 17-6 overall. One of those 17 wins came against the Wildcats in January, 62-33, but Coach Huffman hopes for a much different outcome Wednesday.
“Our rebounding has been weak and will need to be addressed before playing a tall and athletic Southeast team on Wednesday,” Huffman said. “We also need to dig deep and come out on the winning side of some 50-50 loose balls and rebounds. When you hit the playoffs, every possession will make a difference on whether your season ends or continues.”
Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
