Waelder punches ticket to regionals in OT win

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NAVASOTA — It didn’t matter that the starting lineup for the Waelder Wildcats was comprised of two sophomores and a freshman. It didn’t matter that their senior starter had to play just about all of the 36 minutes of game time needed against the second ranked team in the state in Class 1A. Nor did it matter that they were down three points with 16 seconds left on the clock in regulation. In their minds, the Wildcats were going back to the regional tournament and sure enough they did, beating the Leggett Pirates 78-71 in overtime.

“My guys never gave up,” Waelder head coach Brandon Howard said. “They believed in themselves and we just fought until the end. I told them at the beginning of the game, ‘play all four quarters.’ They played four quarters and before they left the huddle I told them it may take more than four quarters. It took more and they stuck with it.”

A rematch from last year’s regional quarterfinals matchup, the Wildcats knew going into this game that they’d have to find an answer for the Pirates’ height. Starters from the second ranked team in the state include guard Darius Cooper listed at 6 feet 2 inches, senior guard Kevin Washington listed at 6 feet 4 inches and post player Sillah Koroma, a 6-foot-6-inch senior.

“I didn’t want them to be afraid of [Koroma],” Howard said of the game plan. “We wanted to play our game, get into the lane and feed our post player and if they get open, make the layup. That’s what we did.”

Early on, baskets came from junior forward Isaiah Ewing down low. Unafraid of Leggett’s height, the Wildcats ended the first quarter down just four points with Ewing leading the way with eight points. He would finish the night with 10 points and six rebounds.

Late in the second quarter with the Pirates up six, Leggett’s Koroma landed hard on an offensive position injuring his knee. Tracy Moore scored four straight before Washington answered with four himself to keep the lead at six.

Koroma would come back into the game with a heavily taped knee, getting himself an easy score in the paint. In the very next possession, he fell again to the ground holding his knee. The injured player limped off and was later seen on the sidelines with ice taped around the knee.

Meanwhile, Moore took off and scored 13 points in that quarter to keep pace with the Pirates. Tension rose in the fourth when Moore scored to bring the Wildcats within one point from Leggett. But with 5:52 left in the game, Koroma made his way back into the game, this time without any tape on the injured knee. The senior center would foul out in overtime.

A key turning point came with 2:33 left on the clock. Washington found sophomore Tavarous McQueen down low who scored while being fouled, putting the Pirates up 60-55 with a free-throw to shoot. However, a missed free-throw led to another Moore score, who again lit up the scoreboard getting 11 points in the fourth.

The Wildcats stayed close as Moore’s two free throws with 19 seconds left on the clock cut the lead to 62-60. Waelder then intentionally fouled freshman Davaun Perkins with 17.8 seconds left. The freshman missed both free throws, but Washington was able to retain possession and was then fouled to shoot two free throws with 16.2 seconds left on the clock. Washington made the first but missed the second, allowing the Wildcats a chance to tie with the score at 63-60.

Moore brought the ball up the court and found sophomore sharpshooter Justin Schilhab who drilled a three to tie the game with six seconds left in the game.

“Justin, he was a freshman last year, he made big shots, this year he just continued the streak,” Howard said. “Teams know who he is this year so it’s kind of hard for him to get open shots, but when he does get them I tell him ‘don’t hesitate, shoot the ball.’”

Despite scoring just five points before making that shot, all in the first half, Howard trusted his sophomore in that play call.

“I have a team full of sophomores, basically,” Howard said. “Outside of Tracy, I got Isaiah who is a junior.”

In overtime, Moore again took over, scoring 10 of the 15 points made to finish his night with a game-high 46 points. After tying the game at 70, the Wildcats would finish overtime on an 8-1 run to advance to the regional tournament yet again.

Moore finished the night with 46 points, three assists, four rebounds and two steals.

“Tracy is a warrior,” Howard said. “He’s the leader on our team. Forty-six? That’s really impressive, I didn’t know how many he had, I just knew I was going to ride him until the wheels fall off.”

The next closest were Ewing with 10 points and sophomore Joshua Jones-Miller with 10 points, three assists, five rebounds and two steals. Alex Ontiveros had two points and two rebounds while Carlos Reyes had two points, one assist and two steals and freshman Colby Thorne had a team-high eight rebounds.

The win propels Waelder to the Region IV-1A tournament for the fourth straight year. This year, they take on #14 Laneville who took down #5 Calvert to get this far.

“They knocked off Calvert so they have to be pretty darn good,” Howard noted.

The Wildcats play in the Austin ISD Burger Gym on Friday, with tipoff set at 8 p.m. The winner takes on the winner of #23 Slocum and Wildcats’ district-rivals the Dime Box Longhorns, ranked ninth in Class 1A, who have beaten Waelder twice already this season.

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