WELCH—Welch will host the Lucky 7 Conference All-Star Game tonight, with the girls tipping off at 6:30 p.m. and followed by the boys’ game. Your Welch Wildcats were well represented on the all-star rosters, announced last week. On the boys’ side of roster, all five starters for the Wildcats, which advanced to the area semifinals last week, were named. Seniors Grant Bullard, Gabe Moore, and Joey Powers were joined by Sophomores Jacob Mount and Austin Buchanan. The team will be completed by the best players from other conference teams.

The Lady Wildcats also had two on the girls’ all-star team. Senior Sierra Hankins and freshman Tylor Dodson will represent the Lady Cats in the All-Star Game.

Some all-stars will sit the bench for tonight’s game, as they are competing later this week in the state playoffs. The boys from Fairland are still alive in area play, as well as the girls teams from Wyandotte and Quapaw.

Boys All-Star Team

• Jordan Alexander, Jacob Bryant, Jesse Drosche and J.C. Morrow of Fairland
• Luis Arizpe and Kyler Ng of Commerce
• Curtis Bacon of Quapaw
• Austin Buchanan, Gabe Moore, Grant Bullard, Jacob Mount, and Joey Powers of Welch
• D.J. Burleson, Zach Butterfield, Derek Durborow and Dakota Sparks of Wyandotte
• Skyler Humble and Josh Williams of Bluejacket, and
• Brandon Jones and Matt Wisdom of Afton

Girls All-Star Team

• Ashlee Davis and Suezann Pascoe of Fairland
• Tylor Dodson and Sierra Hankins of Welch
• Kristen Enyart, Kirsten Leppla, Jennifer McCloud, Felicia Stone and Kayla Oleman of Wyandotte
• Jacy Grimes and Shelbie VanPielt of Afton
• Cheyenne Hall and Samantha Williams of Bluejacket
• Halie Judd, Caitlin Miller and Paige Radford of Quapaw, and
• Jacey Knight, Taylor Stevenson, Courtney Watson and Mandy Watson of Commerce

Patrick Hankins contributed this report.

ENID, Okla.–Your Welch Wildcats were looking to exorcise some demons in Enid today, as they faced the Texhoma Red Devils in the second round of the area basketball tournament. These two teams met in the area tournament last year, and Wildcats were hexed and ended up on the losing end. The stakes were familiar: win and advance; lose and the season is over. The Cats hoped to be the ones celebrating at the final buzzer this year. Texhoma advanced to the second round by beating Barnsdall (who beat the Cats in districts) last night. The winner of Welch-Texhoma faces the loser of tonight’s Garber-Turpin match-up Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Jacob Mount started the scoring for the Cats on a put back on the low block. The Cats faced a big challenge inside because the Red Devils are quite a bit taller than the Cats’ recent opponents. The Devils hit a trey on their next possession, and both teams stepped up the defense, holding their foes scoreless till 4:22 remained first quarter, when Mount sank two free throws to make it 4-3, Welch. Gabe Moore also sank a pair of free throws, making it 6-3, Welch, but the Devils made a bucket, slashing theCat lead to 6-5. Chance Harris answered right back with a three-pointer at the 2:39 mark, making it 9-5, Welch, but Texhoma answered with a trey on their next possession, drawing the foul and completing the charity attempt for a rare four-point play, which tied the game. The three-pointer was falling for Texhoma, and they converted three in the quarter. Joey Powers scored off of a scramble at half court, and Texhoma missed a shot as time expired, and the first quarter ended with Texhoma leading, 12-11.

The second quarter started with another trey falling for Texhoma, and, after a Cat turnover, they converted another three ball before Mount scored on an offensive rebound to answer for the Cats. Another three ball for Texhoma gave them their biggest lead, 21-13, with 5:04 left in the half. Neither team could score the next 2 minutes until Texhoma got an offensive rebound and scored. Mount answered with a bucket, narrowing the gap to ten with 1:52 remaining in the half. Another three by Texhoma at the 1:00 mark extended the Devil lead to 13. The Cats had a hard time guarding both sides of the court, and the Texhoma shooters spaced themselves well, passing the ball around the arc, shooting as the Welch defense tried to recover. A basket on a flip with his back to the basket by a Texhoma player concluded the half with Welch trailing, 30-15. Mount paced the Cat attack with eight points in the first half. According to our unofficial stats, the Red Devils must have been having their prayers answered. They hit seven three-pointers in the first half. The Cats would have to step up their defense in the second half to crawl back into the game.

The Cats got possession first in the second half, and Mount scored down low to start the Cats. The Cats came out in a man-to-man defense, scrapping the zone. The Cats held Texhoma to an old-fashioned three-point play for the first three minutes of the second half, but were only able to convert one bucket on the offensive end. Mount converted a jumper in the paint to cut the Cat deficit to 33-19 with 3:35 left in the third. The man-to-man defense seemed to catch Texhoma off their guard, as they were unable to run their offense as effectively as they had in the first half. But the Cats’ inability to score hampered their efforts to cut into Texhoma’s lead. The scoring drought ended at 2:19, when Texhoma converted a pair of free throws, pushing their lead to 37-19. Powers scored with 1:16 left, and the Cats forced a ten count, getting the ball back, which Mount quickly converted, making it 37-23. Then a controversial call by the official on a clean looking block by Mount sent the Red Devils to the line. After a miss on the first, he made the second, and a desperate heave at the end of the quarter by the Cats fell short, and the quarter ended with Welch trailing 38-23.

Powers scored at the beginning of the fourth but failed to convert the foul shot. With 6:50 to play in the game (and potentially the season), the Cats trailed by 12. Buchanan scored, cutting the Texhoma lead to ten with six minutes left, and the Cats used full-court pressure to force a turnover. Instead, they fouled and Texhoma made both, to lead by 12, 40-28. Mount was fouled and sank both to re-narrow the deficit to ten. A turnover gave the ball back to the Cats. Texhoma answered, moving ahead by 12, and Mount made one of two free throws, to narrow the gap to 11. Fouls went 10 to 8 in favor of the Red Devils, and they continued to make their foul shots, squashing the Cat comeback the rest of the quarter. At the 2:50 mark, the Red Devils had a comfortable 44-33 lead. Texhoma converted six of eight free throws down the stretch to keep control of the game. In the end, the Cats battled back valiantly but fell short, 53-41, to the Texhoma team, who will advance to the final game Saturday. Jacob Mount had 19 to pace the Cats. Joey Powers added 11, Chance Harris made five, Austin Buchanan scored four, and Gabe Moore contributed two.

The Cats play again at the Lucky Seven all-star game Monday night in Welch. Check back soon for pictures from the area tournament.

Here are some pics of the game:

Patrick Hankins contributed to this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Send your news, info, and pics to info ‹at› WelchOK ‹dot› com.

ENID, Okla.–It was another big cat battle as the 1A basketball area tournament underway here in Enid at the Chisholm Trail Expo Center with your Welch Wildcats taking on the Seiling Wildcats. Welch is looking to win three games in three days and was hoping for a fast start to put the game in the bag early. Austin Buchanan started where he left off last week, nailing a trey to start the Cats’ scoring. Then Welch’s senior forward, Joey Powers, took over, scoring 12 consecutive points, literally “powering” the Welch attack from all over the floor. The Cats ended the quarter leading, 17-5, on a baseline fall-away jumper by Powers, who led the Cat attack with 12 in the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the Seiling in possession of the ball. They were fouled and made both free throws to cut the lead to 10. After a Wildcat stop, Powers scored and was fouled, making the freebie to push the lead back to 13, 20-7, with almost two minutes played in the quarter. The Seiling big man scored in the lane on the next possession, cutting the Seiling deficit to 11. After stopping the Cats on offense, Seiling promptly turned it over, failing to capitalize. Both teams clamped down on defense the next three minutes, not allowing any scoring on either end until a free throw by Jacob Mount broke the drought. Mount scored again at the 1:19 mark and drew a foul, sending him to the line with an opportunity to extend the lead. Mount sank the charity shot and increasing the Welch lead to 14 with just over a minute to play in the half. After a missed trey by Seiling, Powers drove to the rim and was fouled but missed both free throws. The Cats held the Seiling scoreless their next possession, ending the quarter up, 26-12. Powers had 19 in the half.

The second half began with Welch in possession of the ball and looking to further their lead. A rare miss by Powers gave the ball back to the opposition, but a steal on the defensive end resulted in Jacob Mount getting fouled and converting both foul shots to push the Welch lead to 14. Seiling then rallied off three straight points, to cut the deficit to 11 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Mount finally scored, stopping the bleeding on the offensive end extending the lead again to 13, but Seiling made one of two foul shots 2:30 to play in the quarter. Powers powered up the lead to 15 with a made free throw with 22 seconds to play in the quarter. Mount paced the Cats with eight points in the third quarter, many coming from the foul line, as Seiling started seeing their bigs in foul trouble. Cats led at the end of three quarters by 15 points, 36-21.

A pair of missed Welch free throws failed to add anything to Welch’s total, and Seiling answered by making a pair of their own, to narrow their deficit to 13 with 6:30 left in the game. The first of Seiling’s bigs fouled out with 5:39 to play, and Brenton Hale made one of two free throws, upping the Cat lead to 41-25. Seiling’s second big fouled out 36 seconds later, sending Mount back to the line where he sank one of two. The third of Seiling’s bigs fouled out 21 seconds later, sending Powers to the line. He also made one of two shots, giving the Cats their biggest lead of the night, 43-27.  Seiling answered right back with a bucket of their own, cutting the lead to 14 with 4:14 to play. On the next possession, Powers fed Mount, who fed the hoop, but Seiling answered right back with a bucket of their own. Powers scored on the Cats’ next possesion and was fouled but missed the free throw. A steal by Powers led to a breakaway by Chance Harris who was fouled shooting. He made both free throws, giving the Cats a 14-point lead, 49-35, with just over two minutes left in the game. An NBA-length three by Seiling cut the lead to 13, but Powers was fouled and made one of two to get his thirtieth point, pushing the Cat lead back to 14. Forrest Davis made both shots after a foul, and the buzzer rang out with the Cats victorious, 54-41, over the Seiling Wildcats. Powers had 30 for the Cats and was joined in double figures by Jacob Mount, with 16. Austin Buchanan had three, Chance Harris and Forrest Davis netted two each, and Brenton Hale added one to round out the Cats’ scoring.

You can hear our audio update from the game venue by clicking “play” below:

The Cats face the #8 Texhoma Red Devils in round two tomorrow at 3 p.m. Welch Schools will be bringing the pep bus once again. Those unable to make it in person can listen to the game live online at http://z92online.com.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info «at» WelchOK «dot» com.

Regional Tournament Consolation Champs

MORRISON, Okla.—After a thrilling overtime victory over Ripley Friday night, your Welch Wildcats took on the Morrison Wildcats in a big cat battle Saturday afternoon at the Morrison Event Center. Both teams knew the stakes going in: the winning team would be the regional tournament consolation champion and advance to the area tournament next week; the losing team would move on to Spring sports, having complete its 2010 basketball season. Your Welch Wildcats rose to the occasion. Joey Powers delivered his usual, strong showing, and Austin Buchanan was on fire, sinking trey after trey. Strong efforts by all the Welch Wildcats—starters and reserves, scorers and non-scorers—illustrated why this team is so phenomenally successful. Coach Josh Schertz has crafted a group of young men who are all class.

Welch won the tip and set their offense looking to score first. A trey by Austin Buchanan got the Cats on the board first. After a defensive stop, the Cats scored again on another three-ball by Buchanan. Welch held Morrison scoreless the first three minutes of the game before the hosts got on the scoreboard with a bucket by their big man down low. Jacob Mount answered with a bucket of his own to increase the lead, and yet another trey by Buchanan forced a Morrison timeout. Welch led, 11-2, with four minutes left in the quarter. The scouting report on the Wildcats says to shut down Powers’ outside game and Mount’s inside game. Morrison seemed privy to this information, as they kept a man on Powers and packed the inside with their 2-1-2 zone against Mount. That strategy let Buchanan run free, to the tune of 13 first-quarter points. At the end of one period, the Cats of Welch were leading, 17-9.

The second quarter started like the first, with another trey by Buchanan, this one from the left side. The only thing that slowed Buchanan down was his second foul call, causing him to visit the bench early in the second period. The whistles came fast and often against Welch, and Morrison was in the bonus with 5:40 remaining in the half. Jacob Mount scored in the paint for an “and-one,” raising the Welch lead to 23-17. Powers got his second bucket, extending the lead again, and Welch forced a turnover to get the ball back again. Powers was fouled shooting and made both freebies to advance the Welch lead to 27-17 with under three minutes remaining in the half. Welch missed the front end of a pair of 1-and-1′s twice. The defense stepped up, allowing only a single bucket on the Morrison end and ending the half ahead, 27-19. Buchanan alone almost outscored the opposition combined, sinking 16 first-half points.

Welch got the ball first in the second half, and Joey Powers quickly converted a bucket to extend Welch’s lead to double digits. Buchanan made a free throw, and, after a Morrison turnover, nailed another trey to push the Welch Cat lead to 14 with 5:45 left in the quarter. A made free throw and an ensuing jumper, both by Powers, ran the Wildcat lead to 17 with under five minutes left in the quarter. Welch went cold the next couple of minutes, as Morrison worked a full-court press, hoping to contain the Cat’s offense. Welch was not able to attack after breaking the press, but Morrison could not buy a bucket, either. A basket by Mount and a free throw by Powers at the end of the quarter got the Cats back on track. At the end of three periods, the Wildcats from Welch led, 41-24.

Powers started the fourth quarter with a layup off a pass from Moore to stretch the Welch lead to 19 with 6:30 remaining in the game. Another bucket by Powers extended the lead to 21, quieting the unexpectedly small Morrison crowd. A Powers put-back and a Mount layup upped the Wildcat lead to 24 with 4:39 to play, and the Welch Wildcat bench started to see the court. The reserves proved a formidable challenge for the home-court Morrison Wildcats. Just before the end of the game, and before a made basket by Morrison, Welch had doubled their opponents, 62-31. That last Morrison basket made the final score, 62-33, Welch. Powers led the Cats with 24; Austin Buchanan added 20; Jacob Mount tallied 13; Asa Chenoweth nailed 3, and Chance Harris had 2. The Cats move on to the area tournament in Enid as the regional consolation champions.

Click here to see more, high quality photos from this game in our Flickr photo set.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info at WelchOK dot com.

MORRISON, Okla.–As an excited crowd bedecked in blue and white cheered them on, your Welch Wildcats muscled past the men from Ripley, 46-42 in overtime, to advance up through the losers’ bracket of the regional tournament. Next, Welch faces Morrison, who will host the the Cats Sat., Feb. 20, at 3:00 p.m. A victory will make Welch winner of the regional losers’ bracket and give them get them a ticket to the area tournament. A loss will end their season.

Friday’s match against Ripley saw the Cats dominate the boards for most of the game. Ripley rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points in the final period. Though it looked like Ripley wouldn’t be able to overcome Welch’s lead, a desperate Ripley jump shot at the final buzzer found its way through the hoop, tying the game as time expired.

The overtime period saw Welch reestablish its lead, ahead by four when the game was over. Joey Powers led the Cats’ scoring efforts, sinking 26 points. Jacob Mount scored eight, Austin Buchanan added six, Grant Bullard pitched in four, and Chance Harris contributed two.

Click here to see hi-res pics from this game in our Flickr feed.

WELCH—Your Welch Wildcats hosted the Barnsdall Panthers at the Wildcat Gym Saturday night to decide the District 7 championship. Barnsdall came fresh off a victory over Afton the previous night, which ended the Eagle’s season. The Wildcats, #10 in the latest Class A rankings, was top district seed and drew a bye in the first round of district play, thus they had been idle since the previous week.

The Cats won the opening tip, and Jacob Mount drained a baseline jumper for the first Wildcat tally. Barnsdall answered back on their possesion with a bucket of their own. The next few moments proved to be a lot of expelled energy without any purpose as both teams played a frantic style of ball while not adding to their score. Half the quarter went by before Barnsdall finally broke the ice, scoring a bucket in transition. Typical roles seemed to be reversed, as the Panthers, instead of the Wildcats, put on the pressure defense and forced a number of turnovers, which they converted for a couple easy scores. Joey Powers followed a Welch miss and scored, drawing the foul but missing the “and one.” The score stood at 6-4, Barnsdall. A trey by the Panthers extended their lead to five, but Powers scored again on an “and one, “again unable to convert the freebie. That cut the Panther lead to three with two minutes left in the quarter. Mount then scored a bucket to narrow the Cat deficit to one, but the Panthers converted a trey on their next possession, expanding their lead, 12-8. The Cats had a couple of chances to score at the end of the first quarter, but their shots just wouldn’t fall.

The second quarter started with another three ball from Barnsdall, extending their lead. The Cats struggles from the field continued, while every prayer from Barnsdall was answered, and they made shots from all over the floor. Mount finally broke Welch’s icey shooting, scoring from the lane. Another Panther trey extended their lead to double digits, 22-11, with 5:39 left in the half. Chance Harris entered the game and scored a nice driving tear-dropper after Grant Bullard was called for his third personal foul and had to sit the bench. A big, two-handed shot block by Powers ignited the Cat defense, and Mount scored in transition to narrow the score to 22-18 with 2:50 remaining in the half. A bucket by Barnsdall put them up six, but the Cats answered and cut their deficit back to  four on their ensuing possesion. The Wildcat defense got a stop, but then a Wildcat walking call gave the Panthers the ball back, and they scored to extend their lead again to six with under 20 seconds remaining in the half. Jacob Mount was fouled and made one of two free throws to cut the Panther lead to five with under 10 seconds to play in the half. Barnsdall’s shot at the buzzer missed, and the Panthers led, 26-21, after two. The Wildcats struggled not only from the field in the first half but also from the foul line, missing a bunch of free throws that would have helped the Wildcat cause. Jacob Mount led the Cat offense with 11 first-half points.

The second quarter started with a Panther basket, but Austin Buchanan scored, drawing the foul. He missed the charity shot, and the score stood 30-23, Barnsdall, with just a minute elapsed in the quarter. After a made bucket and a free throw by Barnsdall, the Cats trailed by ten and called a timeout to regroup with 5:15 left in the quarter. Barnsdall made another basket and upped their lead to 12, but Mount cashed in a basket to cut the Panther lead back to 10 with 4:30 left in the quarter. Powers converted a layup to narrow their deficit to eight, and Harris scored on an inbound play reduce it to six with 2:53 left in the third quarter. After another answered prayer of a shot, Barnsdall pushed their lead to eight with just under two minutes left in the third. Both teams traded baskets the remainder of the quarter, and Barnsdall led, 39-33, after three.

Powers scored to start the fourth, cut the Panther lead to four, but the visitors answered back, upping their lead once again. A big trey by Brenton Hale narrowed the spread to three, and a foul on Powers in the back court sent him to the line for a one-and-one opportunity to shrink the lead. Powers missed the first shot, and Barnsdall raced down the court and scored, drawing a foul call, and extending their lead, 44-38. The Wildcats fouled on their miss and sent Barnsdall back to the line where they sank both shots, pushing their lead again to eight with 5:45 remaining. Buchanan scored back-to-back driving layups to push the Cats within four of the Panthers, 46-42, with just under five minutes remaining. Both teams had starters foul out, and the Wildcats took advantage with their supperior size. Mount scored on a dump in to cut the Cat’s deficit to two with 4:02 left in the game. Buchanan was fouled on a drive, which sent another Panther to the bench with his fifth foul. Buchanan converted one of two freebies, cutting the spread to a single point. A block by Mount got the ball back for the Cats, but they misfired on the offensive end, and remained behind by one with 2:54 to go. Barnsdall drew a foul call and made one of two to lead, 47-45, and the Cats turned it over on their next possesion, giving Barnsdall another chance to score. Grant Bullard stole the ball, though, and was fouled on the offensive end and sent to the line for free throw opportunities. Bullard, who had been saddled with foul trouble, converted the pair of gimmes to tie the game at 47-all with 1:45 left in the contest. After a stop on D, the Cats were called from the opposite end of the floor for a ghostly traveling call, which gave the ball back to Barnsdall. The Panthers ran the clock down to 22 seconds before calling a time out to set their offense for a final shot. Jacob Mount drew a charging call with 19.5 seconds remaining, giving the Cats back the ball and a chance to claim their first lead of the game. After a mad scramble for the ball, the Cats did not have much time but did manage to get it into the hands of Powers. His fall-away at the buzzer missed and sent the game to the four-minute overtime period.

Barnsdall wasted no time hitting a three and, after a Cat miss, hit another three, upping their lead to six with just a few seconds elapsed in OT. Powers scored and was fouled but did not convert the foul shot, so the Cats trailed by four.  Barnsdall scored again, but the Cats scored back-to-back buckets, cutting the Panther lead to two with 2:20 remaining. A foul on Powers sent the Panthers to the line, where they converted one to up their lead to three. Mount scored from the paint to cut the Panther lead again to a single point again with 1:35 left, but the Panthers answered with a bucket of their own. The Cats turned it over on their next possesion and fouled, sending the Panthers to the line for a pair of freebies. Barnsdall converted both shots and extended their lead to five with under a minute remaining. Mount scored again from the paint, cutting the Barnsdall lead to three, and the Cats forced a turnover. Brenton Hale was fouled on the perimeter and sent to the line. He missed both shots, but Powers gathered in the rebound. His put back-was also denied. Barnsdall was fouled on the inbound and made one of two, extending their lead to four, also getting the rebound on the miss. The Wildcats were forced to foul the Panthers, and they made one of two free throws, sealing their victory, 62-57. The Wildcats’ struggles at the free throw line came back to haunt them, as it would have been a different outcome had they been able to convert a higher percentage of their charity shots. Mount led the Cats with 21, Powers added 18, Buchanan tallied nine,  Chance Harris bucketed four, Brenton Hale added three, and Grant Bullard contributed two.

The Cats travel to Barnsdall for a regional game Thursday. Their state tournament dreams depending on them getting back on the winning track. Another loss ends their season.

[Editor's note: I know it's frowned upon to criticize the referees of high school sports, and I know that the OSSAA runs radio announcements telling everyone to be nice to them, but seriously, folks, in what other job in the world can you be utterly horrible and not receive any criticism whatever? I'm not advocating harm or injury here, but let's be honest, the refereeing at this game was some of the absolute worst I have ever seen. It probably wasn't the deciding factor in the game, but it surely added to the perfect storm that allowed the inferior Barnsdall team to best our Wildcats. And one of the refs knew his performance had so outraged the crowd that I witnessed him ask a Sheriff's deputy—while the game was still going—to meet him outside the ref's locker room and escort him to his vehicle. That's all the confession of an awful job I needed to see. There, I've said my piece. Ed.]

See photos of the game in our Flickr phot set.

Patrick Hankins contributed this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info at WelchOK dot com.

WELCH–Our sports coverage this week hasn’t been what you’ve come to expect from WelchOK.com. Your executive editor and our primary sports contributor both had to travel, and then your editor got sick. So, here’s the report, a little belated but better late than never.

And, I usually post this at the end of the sports updates, but I want to put it at the beginning of this report to make sure everyone reads it. The detailed sports reports of late have been contributed by Patrick Hankins. He does a great job of reporting on the basketball games, and if you appreciate him doing so (none of us are making any money off WelchOK.com), please leave a comment on this post letting him know. With that said, let’s review this week in Wildcat basketball.

Welch Lady Cats v. Bluejacket Lady Chieftains, Tues., Feb. 2, 1010 (Senior Night)

Your Welch Lady Cats hosted the visiting Bluejacket Lady Chieftains in a Lucky Seven conference battle on the Kenneth Sooter Court of the Welch Wildcat Gym. The Lady Cats came out and pounced on their cross-the-way rivals, racing out to an eight-point lead on a three by Erin Snedden and a pair of buckets by Sierra Hankins and Tylor Dodson. Welch led, 18-6, at the end of the first quarter. Tylor Dodson sank eight points in the first quarter for the Lady Cats.

Both teams went cold in the second quarter, and it seemed free throws were all either team could muster on the offensive end. The Lady Cats managed one bucket, and the Lady Chieftains sank a pair of baskets; all other scoring came from the charity stripe. At the end of the quarter, the Lady Cats still led by 12, with the score 26-14 going into the halftime break. A balanced scoring attack by the Lady Cats showed Tylor Dodson and Sierra Hankins pacing the Lady Cats’ offense with nine each and Erin Snedden adding eight in the first half.

Bluejacket came out of the break and scored six straight points to shave the Lady Cat lead to points in a hurry. The Lady Cats responded with a bucket by Hankins and a three by Snedden to expand the lead to 11 with half the third quarter remaining. The visiting Lady Chieftains rallied again, cutting the lead to single digits, but the Lady Cats answered with baskets of their own to hold off the surge. At the end of three quarters, the Lady Cats led, 43-26.

The Lady Chieftains came fighting back and with a pair of free throws, cutting their deficit to nine with six minutes left in the game. A basket by Hankins pushed the Lady Cats’ lead back to 11 with 5:33 left to play. On their next possession, a made bucket by the visitors again cut the Lady Cat lead to nine, but three converted free throws by Dodson advanced the Lady Cat lead to 12 with under four minutes to play. The rest of the half found both teams shooting free throws after the referees got a little whistle-happy in the last four minutes. In the end, the Lady Cats were victorious, 59-42. Sierra Hankins had a season-high 28 for the Lady Cats. Tylor Dodson also had a season-high 20 points. Erin Snedden finished in double figures with ten, and Krystin Marlow added one.

Welch Wildcats v. Bluejacket Chieftains, Feb. 2, 2010 (Senior Night)

Your Welch Wildcats  went into Tuesday’s game with a 17-2 record, looking to continue their winning ways after a few days off because of inclement weather and hoping not to be too rusty after the layoff. Apparently, the Cats stayed rust-free as they bounded out to a 10-2 lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter on buckets by seniors Dakota Chenoweth, Gabe Moore, Jordan Dry, and Joey Powers to start the game. The other senior starter, Grant Bullard, waited until later in the quarter to get his first points on a nice lay in, extending the Wildcat lead to 14. The Cats were ahead, 21-3, at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter proved to be the second verse of the same song, as the Cats drove their lead to 33-5 with 4:49 remaining in the first half. Back-to-back three pointers by Dakota Chenoweth powered the Cats further past the over-matched Chieftains. The first half saw all 17 Wildcats take the floor and 10 of those found their way into the scoring column, led by Dakota Chenoweth with 12 first half points. At the end of the first half, the Cats had a healthy 43-11 lead.

The Cats extended their lead to 49-14 with 3:54 left in the third, with the Wildcat bench logged significant playing time. Austin Hale nailed a trey from the top of the key at the buzzer and expanded the Wildcat lead to 54-20 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter saw the Cats’ bench continue to get some playing time, and the game was soon out of hand for the visitors. In the end, the Cats prevailed 65-22. Dakota Chenoweth led the Cats with 12 points, Jordan Dry had nine, Gabe Moore and Brenton Hale added eight each, Joey Powers contributed six, Chance Harris and Grant Bullard each bucketed five, Jacob Mount added four, and Austin Buchanan, Billy McClintick, Alex Smith, and Lucas Thompson had two each to round out the Cats’ offense.

Welch v. Wyandotte, Thur., Feb. 4, 2010

Your Wildcat teams hosted Wyandotte Thursday night. We didn’t have a reporter to provide a detailed report of the game, but the results are as follows:

The Wyandotte girls led the Lady Cats, 25-12, at halftime, eventually beating the Lady Cats, 49-29. Lady Cat scorers were Hankins, nine; Marlow, six; Seigel, five; Dodson, four; Snedden, three; McCord, two.

Both Welch and Wyandotte’s boys’ teams went into the game undefeated in conference play. The Wyandotte boys led the Wildcats, 26-24, at halftime and, 39-37, at end of third quarter. The Wildcats rallied to end the game the victorious, 51-48. They remained undefeated in the Lucky Seven Confernce, while dealing Wyandotte their first conference loss. Wildcat scorers were Powers, 27; Buchanan, nine; Bullard, eight; Hale, four; and Mount, three.

Welch Wildcats v. Wyandotte Bears, Fri., Feb. 5, 2010

(Wyandotte’s homecoming, so the boys played first).

Your Welch Wildcats went on the road last night to visit the Bears of Wyandotte and decide the conference champion. The Bears hoped to avenge their only conference loss, handed to them Thursday night by the Wildcats. A win for the Cats will sew up the Lucky 7 Conference championship; a loss would result in their sharing the title with the Bears. The previous night’s match up ended with the Cats ahead by three after a Wyandotte miss at the buzzer sealed the deal. The Cats hoped Friday night’s outcome would not be so close.

The Bears won the tip and quickly scored but were answered on the Cats’ end by Joey Powers. A three by Wyandotte put the Bears up, but Powers scored on a put-back to cut the Bear lead to one. A trey from Austin Buchanan put the Cats up by one with just over four minutes elapsed in the first quarter. The Cats took a 14-10 lead on a bucket by Powers with less than a minute left in the quarter. A put-back by Powers extended the lead to six, and the Cat defense kept the Bears scoreless the remaining 15 seconds to close out the quarter. Cats led at the end of one quarter, 16-10, ten of which came from Powers.

In the beginning of the second quarter,  quick bucket by the Bears cut the Wildcat lead to four, but Powers answered again to extend it back to six. Both teams traded baskets in the second quarter with neither team establishing themselves. A bucket by the Bears cut the Cat lead to four, and an ensuing foul call and both made freebies cut the Cat lead to two points. The Cats struggled from the line, missing a couple of free throws and allowing the Bears back into the game. Another made free throw by the Bears cut the lead to a single point with under three minutes left in the half. The Cats collected themselves and responded with a pair of buckets to extend the lead to five with just under 20 seconds left. The Cats rebounded a Bear miss, and Grant Bullard was fouled with two seconds left in the quarter, sinking both free throws and extending the Cat lead to seven. At the close of the first half, the Cats led, 30-23. Powers led the Cats scoring attack with 12, while Jacob Mount added nine.

The Cats received the ball first to start the second half, and Powers started where he left off, scoring from the baseline. Two quick buckets in a row by the Bears cut the Cat lead to five, with just over two minutes gone in the period. A trey by the Bears cut into the Cat lead, but back-to-back Cat buckets extended the lead. A Wyandotte player received a technical foul, and Grant Bullard made one of the two free throws to put the Cats up by five with 3:39 left in the quarter. Both teams traded buckets the remainder of the quarter until a Cat turnover led to a foul on a shot, and the Bear made both shots. Welch then turned it over once again, leading to a make by the Bears, who closed the gap to one with under a minute to play in the quarter. A miss by the Cats ended the quarter with the Cats barely leading, 39-38.

A put-back by the Bears gave them the lead, 40-39, and on their next posession they extended their lead,42-39, with 6:03 left in the quarter. A trey by Powers tied the game at 42-42 with 5:30 left in the game. The Bears scored and were answered by the Cats on their end to deadlock the game once again. A controversial call sent the Bears to the line with an “and one” opportunity, which they failed to convert. Powers scored again to tie the game once more at 46 all. Welch held the Bears on their next possession and called a timeout to set up their offense with 2:03 left in the contest. Another put-back by Powers put the Cats ahead by two with 1:32 left in the game. A nifty move by Grant Bullard against the big Wyandotte center on the next possession put the Cats ahead by four with 52 seconds remaining. The Bears responded with a bucket of their own to cut the Cat lead to two with 35.9 seconds left. The Cats inbounded the ball, moving it across the timeline and calling a timeout to set up a play. Neither team was in the bonus situation, so it came down to who could make a play rather than a free throw shooting contest. Welch inbounded and was fouled immediately, but then turned the ball over on their next inbound with the Bears taking over on their end with under 20 seconds remaining. The Cats almost forced a turnover, but a foul call gave the Bears back the ball under their basket with 10.4 seconds left. Two missed threes by the Bears, and the Cats earned the 50-48 victory and the Lucky Seven Conference Championship. Powers led the Cats with 25, Jacob Mount had 11,  Austin Buchanan tallied six, Grant Bullard scored five, and Gabe Moore and Brenton Hale added two each.

Welch Lady Cats v. Wyandotte Lady Bears, Fri., Feb. 5, 2010

The Welch LadyCats traveled to Wyandotte looking to avenge a conference loss to the Lady Bears the previous night. Sierra Hankins gathered in an offensive rebound and bucketed the put-back to give the Lady Cats a quick two points to start the game. But the Lady Bears answered to tie the game at two each early in the first. A three by Erin Snedden extended the Lady Cat lead, 5-2 with 5:20 left in the quarter. An ensuing bucket by Wyandotte cut the Cat lead to one at the 5 minute mark. A put-back by Tylor Dodson put the Lady Cats ahead once again, 7-5 with 3:22 left in the quarter. Dodson scored again to extend the lead to 9-5 in favor of Welch with 2:20 left in the quarter. Hankins scored on an assist from Krystin Marlow, pushing the Lady Cat lead to six, but the Lady Bears countered with a basket of their own, cuting their deficit to just four. After a Welch miss,the Lady Bears held the ball to run out the quarter and nailed a trey with two seconds left,making the first-quarter score 11-10 in favor of the Lady Cats.

A trey from Wyandotte started the second quarter and gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the game, 13-11. Hankins scored to tie it up at 13 all with 6:40 left in the quarter. A 20-0 Wyandotte run the remainder of the quarter finished out the half, as the Lady Cats could not make a field goal or even a free throw, going zero for five from the charity stripe in the quarter. Sierra Hankins led the Lady Cats with six first-half points.

The Lady Cats started the second half with a trey by Kelsie Smith, but a quick bucket in transition by the Lady Bears killed any momentum the Lady Cats gained. The Lady Cats emptied the bench with five minutes left in the quarter, all bu throwing in the towel. Even with a 38-point lead and the Welch reserves in the game, the Wyandotte coach must have been worried about a come-back, keeping her starting guards in the game to run up the score on layups off turnovers and Lady Cat misses. At the end of the third, Lady Cats trailed by 40 points, 58-18.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Wyandotte coach must have felt her lead was sufficient, finally pulling all her starters and pitting her reserves against the Lady Cat reserves. The reserves played valiantly, but in the end Wyandotte prevailed, 68-18. Hankins led the Lady Cats with six, Tylor Dodson added four, Erin Snedden and Kelsie Smith added three each, and Cheyenne McCord had two. [Editor's note: Stay classy, Wyandotte.]

And there you have it, the results of a busy week of Wildcat basketball. Photos will be added to our Flickr photostream soon. And remember, leave a comment telling Patrick Hankins you appreciate his work on providing reports.

Patrick Hankins contributed to this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info ‹at› WelchOK ‹dot› com.

WELCH—It was a fun night for everyone in the Welch Wildcat Gym Tuesday night–unless you were dressed in red and white. Your Welch teams each chalked up a conference win, defeating the Fairland Lady Owls and Owls by healthy margins.

Welch Lady Cats v. Fairland Lady Owls

Fresh off a third-place finish in the NEO Tournament, your Welch Lady Cats resumed Lucky 7 Conference play last Tuesday night, hosting the Fairland Lady Owls on the Ken Sooter Court of the Welch Wildcat Gym. The Lady Cats came out ready to play and started hot with a pair of treys from Erin Snedden, racing out to a quick eight-point lead. The offense continued to click, with buckets coming the remainder of the half from all five Lady Cat starters. Sierra Hankins led the Lady Cats with 10 first-half points, and senior Erin Snedden added eight, giving the Lady Cats a 26-15 lead going into halftime. An outburst by the Fairland coach en route to the locker room earned him a technical foul and guaranteed the Lady Cats would receive the ball first to begin the second half.

The second half started with Snedden converting both technical-induced free throws. The Lady Cats added to their lead on a basket by Tylor Dodson, extending their lead to 14 with 5:30 left in the quarter. A pair of Lady Owl free throws and a made basket narrowed the gap to 11 with 4:03 left in the quarter. An “and one” by Hankins again extended the lead to 13, but she missed the charity shot. A nice up-and-under from Dodson again put the Lady Cats 13 ahead at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter began with a couple of touch fouls called on the Lady Cats, which led to three straight made free throws by the Lady Owls, reducing their deficit to 10 with just under seven minutes left to play. The Lady Cats started struggling on the boards until two big free throws by Megan Carpenter ran the Lady Cat lead back to 13. A pair of freebies by the visitors again cut the Lady Cat lead back to 11. The Lady Owls eventually came within nine points of Welch with 1:39 left in the game, giving Lady Cat fans a little trepidation. Tylor Dodson was fouled and made the front end of a one-and-one to push the lead back to 12 with just under 40 seconds remaining in the game. The second free shot rattled out, and Fairland secured the rebound, but the writing was already on the wall. The Lady Owls attempted a couple of long-range bombs that flew wide of the mark, and the Lady Cats chalked up a hard-earned conference victory, 52-40.

Erin Snedden led the Lady Cats with 16; Sierra Hankins and Tylor Dodson joined her in double figures with 15 and 13, respectively. Kelsie Smith and Krystin Marlow each added three, and Megan Carpenter tallied two.

Welch Wildcats v. Fairland Owls

After being named the second-place winners in the NEO Tournament round robin bracket on point differential, your Welch Wildcats returned to conference play by hosting the Fairland Owls. The Cats controlled the tip, but the Owls scored first on a nice alley-oop to one of their bigs under the basket. The Cats countered with their own big, as Jacob Mount scored on a put-back to even the score. The Owls came back to score again and got a turnover under the Welch bucket, but promptly threw it away to Joey Powers, who missed the contested layup. A bucket by Mount tied the game at six each with 3:50 left in the quarter. A bucket by Mount on the next possession put the Cats ahead 8-6. Joey Powers, usually one of the Cat’s offensive weapons, turned into the facilitator with three assists in the first quarter. Brenton Hale knocked down a long jumper for three, but Fairland answered with an immediate three of their own. Back-to-back-to-back buckets by Powers, Mount, and Powers pushed the Cat lead up to 11 just before the end of the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded, the Cats led, 20-9.

The second quarter found both defenses clamping down on the opponent’s offensive game. The Wildcats were held to just seven points for the quarter, while the visitors managed only eight of their own. The Cats went into the half with a 27-17 lead. Jacob Mount led the Cats with 13 points the first half.

Powers started the second half with a bang, scoring six straight points and extending the Cat lead to 16. A bucket by Mount, assisted by Jordan Dry, fell right before a trey by Chance Harris extended the lead to 20 with 2:50 left in the third quarter. A Powers put-back pushed the Cat lead 22 with under ten seconds left in the third.

The fourth quarter started with Fairland in possession of the ball, and they scored quickly, cutting their deficit 20. A missed trey by Powers led to a Fairland basket in transition, again narrowing the Cats’ substantial lead. Fairland began to rally and gain momentum, but Gabe Moore drew a charging foul to get the ball back into Cat hands, and then he was fouled on the other end attempting a put-back off an offensive rebound. He made one of two foul shots, making the score 48-29 with 4:40 left in the game. Jacob Mount was fouled shooting on the next possession with 3:46 left. He knocked down both free shots to expand the Cat lead back to 21. The Wildcats ran their keep away game the last of the quarter and exhausted the clock with a 54-39 victory.

Jacob Mount led the Cats with 19; Joey Powers joined him in double figures with 16. Brenton Hale added six, Gabe Moore tallied four, Chance Harris had three, and Jordan Dry and Grant Bullard contributed two each.

Click here to see our Flickr photo set for this game.

Patrick Hankins contributed to this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info <at> WelchOK <dot> com.

Your 3rd-place Lady Cats

MIAMI, Okla.—The 65th annual NEO High School Basketball Tournament is now history, and what a contest it was for your Welch teams! Your Lady Cats suffered a heartbreaking loss to Bluejacket Friday, but they overcame it and thoroughly dominated the Foyil Lady Panthers Saturday, winning 57-45, and securing their spot as third-place winners of the girls’ blue bracket. Your Wildcats drew large crowds for each game they played in the boys’ round robin bracket. Their defeat of Roland may have been the high point of the tourney, but their defeat of Miami in the final game of the tournament was a final feather in their respective caps. A capacity crowd at the NEO College Gym Saturday night watched with rapt interest as the Wildcats schooled Miami, defeating the Wardogs 42-39 when the final buzzer rang out. Each of the four teams in the round robin bracket finished with a 2-1 record, save Miami, which went 0-3. Roland lost to Welch, Welch lost to Lincoln Christian (incidentally, Welch was the only team in the tournament to hold LC under 40 points, allowing them only 32), and Lincoln Christian lost to Roland; Miami lost to everyone.

Welch Lady Cats v. Foyil Lady Panthers

The Welch Lady Cats put the bad taste of a loss out of their mouths as they took on the Foyil Panthers at the Student Activity Center at NEO A&M College in Miami Saturday. Sierra Hankins started the game by winning the opening tip and a sinking quick bucket. The Lady Cats got a great first-quarter start and found the offensive groove early, racing to an early lead with all as five Lady Cats adding to the score. Then the Lady Panthers rallied and came back to narrow the gap from a nine-point deficit, closing the first quarter four points behind the Lady Cats. The fouls came fast and furious as 13 total fouls were called in the first eight minutes, six against the Lady Cats and seven against Foyil.

The second quarter saw more Lady Cat dominance, as they pushed their lead to eight, three minutes into the quarter. The remainder of the second quarter turned into a foul shooting contest, with both teams in the double bonus with over 5:00 left in the half. On a basket by Megan Carpenter, the Lady Cats extended their lead to 10 with just over four minutes left in the half.  Made free throws by the Lady Panthers kept them in the game. At the close of the second quarter, the Lady Cats led 38-27. Hankins led the Lady Cats with 14 first-half points.

The Lady Cats started the second half sporting an 11-point lead and went back to work attempting to extend their lead. With three minutes left in the quarter, the Lady Cats expanded their lead to 18 on a bucket by Hankins. The end of the third quarter found the Lady Cats leading by 16 points, 45-29.

In the fourth, the Lady Cats stood firm and continued to run their offense, getting good shots at the bucket. Tylor Dodson and Kelsie Smith bucketed points for the Lady Cats down the stretch, increasing their lead to 19 with under two minutes in the game. The Lady Cat bench was emptied, all the Lady Cats who dressed participating in the contest. In the end, the Lady Cats were victorious and claimed the third-place trophy with a 57-45 victory. Sierra Hankins led the way with 20, and Kelsie Smith joined her in double figures with 10. Erin Snedden added eight, Tylor Dodson and Krystin Marlow bucketed seven each and Megan Carpenter added five.

Tylor Dodson gets ready to make a move

Sierra Hankins prepares to send the ball home

Erin Snedden puts it to two Lady Panthers

Welch Wildcats v. Miami Wardogs

Gabe Moore flies over the competition

The Welch Wildcats made their last trip to Miami Saturday night for the NEO Tourney. On the main gym at the NEO Fieldhouse, the Wildcats were looking to get back on the winning track after coming up just short against Lincoln Christian the previous night. Once again looking to upset a larger school in the round robin format, the Wildcats were dressed in their road blues and ready to face the host-town Miami Wardogs.

Jacob Mount once again put the Cats on the board first, sinking an offensive rebound. Joey Powers then got an “and one” to fall, converting the gimme to put the Cats ahead 5-3 early in the first. Jacob Mount buried a 12-footer to increase the lead to 7-3, forcing a Wardog timeout. Powers bucketed a floater to extend the lead to 9-3 with 2:30 left in the first. Mount scored again off a Miami turnover on an assist from Brenton Hale to push the lead to eight at the 1:49 mark, forcing Miami into another timeout. The Cats capitalized off another Miami miss, and Powers scored in transition to put the Cats ahead by ten, 13-3. Welch drained the remainder of the first quarter clock on a long miss from Powers at the buzzer. The Cats must have been happy with their performance, ending the quarter up 13-3.

Miami started the second quarter completing a pair of free throws to cut Welch’s lead. They followed that up with an unsuccessful “and one” attempt, which showed the score 13-7, Welch,  with two minutes elapsed in the quarter. The Wardogs narrowed the gap to five with 4:35 left in the half before a bucket and a foul put Powers at the line for the extra, which he sank, to push the Cat lead back to eight. A basket by Mount and a pair of free throws by Powers extended the Cat’s lead back to 10 with 1:33 left in the half. A pair of free throws and a made basket at the end of the quarter pulled the Wardogs back within 6 at the half with the Cats leading 24-18.

The Wildcats started the second half with the ball, but a jumper by Mount rattled out, and a Miami turnover could not be converted by Powers on the Cats’ second possession. The third time was the charm, as Mount made a baseline jumper for the Cats’ first points of the second half, extending the lead to eight. A slashing bucket by Powers off an assist by Gabe Moore put the Cats up by double digits again, 28-18. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter to end up third with Welch leading the Wardogs, 36-25.

Miami scored first in the fourth, cutting the lead to nine, on a tip in, and after a Cat turnover, hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to six. The Cats went cold from the field, going almost four minutes before a free throw by Mount added to the Cats’ total and pushed their lead to seven with under four minutes to play. A baseline jumper by the Wardogs again shaved the lead to five with 2:37 to play, and Coach Schertz called a time out to try to thaw the Cats’ frozen shooting. A Cat turnover after the timeout resulted with a Miami bucket in transition, cutting the lead to three, 37-34, in favor of the Cats. Powers was fouled on an attempt with 1:29 left, but the first freebie rattled out and the second was short, emphasizing the Cats’ struggles from the charity stripe and giving Miami the ball—one three-pointer away from a tie. A Wardog turnover gave the Cats back the ball with a three-point lead. As the announcement of one minute left to play was resounding from the speakers, Powers converted a reverse layup, and Gabe Moore was fouled on a layup attempt. He converted one of his two free throws, to extend the lead to 40-34 with 32.3 seconds remaining. A two-pointer by Miami rattled home cutting the Welch’s lead to four, and Grant Bullard was intentionally fouled to stop the clock. The Wardogs had not committed enough fouls to put the Cats on the line, so a restart of play was ordered, and Powers was fouled on the inbound and sent to the line to shoot a one-and-one with 14 seconds left. He swished both shots, increasing Welch’s lead to six, 42-36. A successful Miami three-pointer at the buzzer resulted in a final score of 42-39, Wildcat favor.

Joey Powers led the way with 22 points, and Jacob Mount added 15 to join him in double figures. Gabe Moore contributed three, and Austin Buchanan added two for the Cats.

With the loss of Lincoln Christian to Roland earlier in the evening, the Wildcats tied for the best record in their division finishing with two wins and one loss. Based on point differential, first place was awarded to Roland, which defeated Lincoln Christian and Miami by a combined 36 points. Lincoln Christian defeated Welch and Miami by a combined eight points. Welch defeated Roland and Miami by a combined five points.

Grant Bullard drives it down the court

Joey Powers easily rises above the competition

Austin Buchanan has his eye on the prize

Jacob Moore concentrates on his jumper

WHS & OSU alumnus Stacy Satterwhite was selected for the halftime shooting contest. For the record, he sank his free throw.

If you think these pics are good, you should see all the great, high quality shots in our Flickr feed. Click here for NEO Tourney Day 1. Click here for NEO Tourney Day 2. Click here for NEO Tourney Day 3.

Special thanks to Patrick Hankins for contributing this and all recent WHS basketball reports. He helps make WelchOK.com available for free. If you appreciate his reports, why not leave a comment saying thanks? And don’t forget, you can also be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info ‹at› WelchOK ‹dot› com. Patrick emails his reports from his Blackberry (or his wife’s iPhone).

MIAMI, Okla.—Your Welch High School basketball teams again headed east to play in the NEO High School Basketball Tournament Friday. At 4:30 p.m. in the Miami Civic Center, the Lady Cats squared off against their long-time rivals from Bluejacket. The tight game eventually showed the Lady Chieftains in the lead, 39-36, when the final buzzer sounded. Later, the Wildcats faced the Bulldogs from Lincoln Christian at 7:30 p.m. in the NEO College Gym. The teams were neck-and-neck the whole game, and the Wildcats could barely buy a bucket. Eventually, time ran out and the 32-28 score handed the Bulldogs a win.

Welch Lady Cats v. Bluejacket Lady Chieftains

The Welch Lady Cats continued their quest to be the girls’ blue bracket champions of the 65th annual Northeastern Oklahoma A&M High School Basketball Tournament. With an afternoon tip-off, the two teams, who met to kick the season off, tangled again on the court of the Miami Civic Center. The last meeting between these two teams resulted in Lady Cats taking home a victory on the Lady Chieftains’ home court. It’s always a rivalry when these two teams meet on the hardwoods, and each team looks forward to saddling the other with a loss.

The Lady Cats won the tip, but the Lady Chieftains scored the first points of the game. The Lady Cats answered with a bucket by Tylor Dodson to tie the game early in the quarter. Both teams traded baskets back and forth the entire first quarter, while attempted to find the other’s weakness. The first quarter ended with Bluejacket leading, 11-10.

The second quarter found the Lady Cats going cold from the field, and they could only muster five points for the entire quarter while the Lady Chieftains added ten to extend their lead to 21-15 by halftime.

The three ball was falling for the Lady Chieftains, and they bucketed a pair of treys in the first part of the second quarter. The Lady Cats closed the deficit with a couple of buckets of their own to end the quarter. A layup by Tylor Dodson at the buzzer reduced the gap to two, 29-27.

The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle, and a steal by Rachel Seigel caused an outburst by a Lady Chieftain, which resulted in a technical foul. Erin Snedden converted both charity shots to tie the game at 29 all with 5:30 left in the game. After the Lady Chieftains added to their tally, a blocked shot by Megan Carpenter and an ensuing bucket by Sierra Hankins evened the score at 33 all with 2:30 left, and the Lady Cats seemed to build momentum. The final two minutes saw both teams trade baskets until a huge trey off an inbound play, coincidentally from the Lady Chieftain who had received the technical foul, put the Lady Chieftains ahead for good. The Lady Cats had a couple of opportunities to tie the game, but in the end the three-pointer from the corner sealed the Lady Cats’ fate, and they lost 39-36. Tylor Dodson and Sierra Hankins each racked up 17 points, and Erin Snedden contributed the other two.

The Lady Cats next play the consolation game against Foyil at noon Sat. in the Student Activity Center on the campus of NEO.

Welch Wildcats v. Lincoln Christian Bulldogs

Hoping to continue the role of giant-killers, your Welch Wildcats took on the 2A #18-ranked Lincoln Christian Bulldogs in the boys’ round robin bracket Friday night. Welch came off an emotional and exhausting two-point win over the 4A #10-ranked Roland Rangers Thursday night and hoped to continue through the tournament unscathed. The NEO Tournament is providing Coach Josh Schertz’s 1A #14-ranked Wildcats some great experience that will surely pay dividends when the Wildcats begin district play on the way to the state tournament.

Both teams struggled to find the find the range in the first quarter, missing numerous shots. The only scoring for both teams before the final minute was a trey and a free throw for each team. Welch had possession at the end of the quarter and ran the clock down to two seconds when Joey Powers launched a three from the top of the key to take the lead, 7-4, at the buzzer.

The Bulldogs came right back in the second quarter after holding the Cats and forcing a miss on their possession. They knocked down a three, tying game at seven all. The Bulldogs took the lead on a jumper in transition after a Wildcat turnover to take the lead to 9-7. A couple of hurried shots and an offensive foul against Jacob Mount gave the Bulldogs opportunities to score, and they took advantage, scoring four straight points. A basket and a foul call gave Powers the opportunity for a three-point play, but the freebie rattled out leaving the Cats trailing, 13-9, with 2:44 left in the half. A steal by Brenton Hale gave the Cats back the ball, which Powers converted for two, cutting the lead to one possession. With one minute left in the half, the Cats had the ball and trailed by two. Jacob Mount got the ball on the low block and scored, drawing the foul. Again the Cats could not convert the charity throw. The Bulldogs, though, made a jumper with five seconds left to take a 15-13 halftime lead. Powers paced the Cats with eight points in the half.

The Bulldogs received the ball first to start the second half. Their three-point attempt missed, and the Cats tried their own, but it rattled out, as well. Joey Powers made one of two free throws and then a three-pointer to give the Cats a 17-15 lead. The Bulldogs battled back and regained the lead on a jumper from the wing, making it 21-19. Powers scored a driving layup to tie the game at 21 to end the third quarter.

Both teams turned the defense up a notch in the fourth quarter, and both offenses struggled. Powers made a twisting layup with under three minutes left, but the Bulldogs answered with a knifing jumper to keep the lead. After a deuce by Powers, the Bulldog lead was cut to one, but another jumper by Lincoln set the lead to back to three with under two minutes left in play. The Wildcats received the ball with 1:30 remaining, but a three-point attempt from Austin Buchanan bounced in and out, and the Bulldogs regained possession. Welch was forced to foul with less than 30 seconds left, and the Bulldogs made both gimmes to extend their lead. A three by Gabe Moore at the buzzer cut the lead to 32-28, but time ran out on the Cats and they fell in defeat. Powers led the Cats with 20, Austin Buchanan and Gabe Moore each had three, and Jacob Mount contributed two.

The Wildcats play the Miami Wardogs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the NEO College Gym.

Click here for NEO Tourney Day 2 on our Flickr feed.

Patrick Hankins contributed to this report. You, too, can be a WelchOK.com contributor. Email your news, info, and pics to info [at] WelchOK [dot] com.