Thursday 6th February 2025

basketball-with-goal-on-court

The pairings for the finals of the boys’ portion of the 44th Annual Wildcat Classic in Slater are set after a long night of second-round action took place Wednesday, Jan. 29. It’ll be two of the hottest teams in the area squaring off for the title on Friday when top-seeded Brunswick puts their 17-game winning streak on the line against a Slater squad that has won 12 in a row.

Wednesday’s semifinals featured a high level of intensity as first, the defending champion Brunswick Wildcats fought off a pesky Pilot Grove team on their way to defeating the Tigers, 80-54. Right after that, an undermanned Glasgow team which had two starters missing due to illness, led most of the way against the host Slater squad before the Yellowjackets fell in the final two minutes, 52-49. Last night’s results mean that Brunswick and Slater will tangle for the boys’ championship at 9 pm Friday, preceded by a Glasgow-Pilot Grove matchup for third-place honors which will start at 7:30.

Huge Second Half

Thanks to 24 first-half points by Pilot Grove’s Beau Walker, the Tigers were able to hang with Brunswick for a half, trailing only 41-36 at intermission. It seemed like every time the Wildcats were able to score, Pilot Grove, and more specifically Walker, would respond, keeping their side close. Then in the second half, Brunswick had too many weapons for the Tigers, outscoring them 26-7 in the third period and 39-18 during the final half to win going away, 80-54.

While Beau Walker was leading the 10-9 Tigers with his 34 points, the 17-1 Wildcats had three people in double figures. Troy Zellstra scored 28 points while Clay Hayward added 16 and Colby Jenkins accounted for 15.

Frantic Finish

Last night’s other semifinal-round matchup, saw Glasgow play without starters Jackson Meyer or Jackson Strodtman because of illness, yet they gave Slater all they could want and then some before losing by a mere three points. The Yellowjackets were very efficient on offense during the opening half as they led, 32-30 at intermission and were able to stay on top most of the evening before stumbling down the stretch. Glasgow was ahead, 44-42 entering the last quarter, but could score only five points during the final stanza while seeing their lead slip away.

The Yellowjackets were in front 49-48 and had the ball late, only to turn it over twice near the end. Brandon Terrill hit two free throws with under a minute left to put the ‘Cats up by one, 50-49. Then in the final 20 seconds, Slater’s Malachi Wright-Fowler forced a turnover and scored on a lay-in, making it 52-49. As the clock wound down, Glasgow did get off a three-point attempt with a couple of seconds left, only to miss, wrapping up the win for Slater.

The 14-3 Wildcats received 22 points from Brandon Terrill while Malachi Wright-Fowler came off the bench to score 10. Falling to 11-6 on the season, Glasgow saw Bronson Foster and Zach Saylor both toss in 13 points as Kyler Kottman chipped in with 12.

Kicking Things Off

On the other side of the boys’ bracket Friday night, it’ll be Jamestown taking on Carrollton for consolation honors at 6 pm, right after Sweet Springs meets Santa Fe in the seventh-place game which will start at 4:30.

In one losers-bracket matchup on Wednesday, Jamestown led throughout, but had to fight off Sweet Springs late before stopping the Greyhounds, 69-60. The Eagles were ahead, 25-13 after one quarter and later, 44-28 at the break. Jamestown widened their advantage to as much as 21 midway through the final half before Sweet Springs made a final run at them. The Greyhounds cut the margin to 62-56 late in the game before running out of time during their 69-60 loss. Tyler Wilson paced Jamestown with 22 points while Sweet Springs’ Brandon Pinion also scored 22 and his teammate Drayton Hampton tacked on 16.

The first game Wednesday saw Carrollton lead from wire to wire as they rolled past winless Santa Fe, 62-32. Grady Owen had 18 points while Kaine Gibson added 16 more for the Trojans, who were never really tested in this contest.

Girls Semifinal Contests Tonight

Semifinal and Consolation games are set for Thursday at the 44th Annual Wildcat Classic, featuring video streaming of all four games on KMMO.com and on-air coverage of the evening’s contests.

Beginning around 4:20 p.m. on AM 1300, the hosts will tip off a consolation contest against Brunswick. The action moves to FM 102.9 around 6 p.m. when Sweet Springs and Pilot Grove face off in the other consolation game. The first semifinal is slated to tip off around 7:30 p.m. between Santa Fe and Jamestown. The night cap around 9 p.m. will put Carrollton against Glasgow.

We’ll also have tournament action from Harrisburg on Thursday on AM 1300. Pregame is at 5:50 p.m. for the Marshall boys’ consolation game against Fayette in the middle school gym. Other games from Harrisburg tonight include Linn versus Fulton in a consolation contest at 7:30 p.m., while in the high school gymnasium, Blair Oaks and Centralia will start the semifinals off around 6 p.m., followed by a Boone County clash between the hosts Harrisburg and Hallsville.

Pool play wraps up tonight at the Richmond Winter Classic, when Lawson and Odessa girls square off at 5 p.m., followed by the top-seeded University Academy girls and fifth-seeded Richmond at 6:30 p.m., then the boys contest at 8 p.m. between Richmond and Kansas City East.

Games also scheduled for tonight include:
Doubleheaders
Canton at Cairo
Southern Boone at Moberly

Girls
Cole Camp at Stover
Fatima at Boonville
St. Paul Lutheran at Oak Grove
Warrensburg at Jefferson City

Boys
Kingsville at Northwest (Hughesville)
Rock Port at Braymer
Winston at Breckenridge