On Friday, Feb. 2, the Millard West boys basketball team hosted the consensus second ranked Millard North Mustangs in a Millard against Millard showdown. The Wildcats came into the game 9-7, while the Mustangs dropped one game against Omaha Central in the Holiday Tournament, and one to out of state Curie Commodores, from Chicago, Illinois.
One thing that does not matter in the battle of Millard schools is your record. Time and time again you can look at any matchup with a clear favorite, but the district rivalry means more than the numbers.
With the Wildcats being such underdogs, they knew they would have to come out swinging early. That did not happen, as the Mustangs would start off with a quick 16-5 run to start the first quarter.
Millard West did have a starter returning to the line-up, freshman center Cade Walker. The big man hurt his back earlier in the week, but made sure he was ready for this game.
“It felt good to be back on the court,” freshman center Cade Walker said. “The team has really helped me get back to where I want to be, and I was excited for this matchup.”
Senior guard Jordan Gassen and junior guard Reece Carson were the primary sources of offense for the Wildcats, whereas the three-headed monster of seniors Neal Mosser, Elijah Gaeth and junior Derek Rollins would be tough for a strong Wildcat defense to cover.
Millard West did recover with their guard play and finally being able to hit some shots, but after the end of the first quarter the score was 18-12.
The second quarter saw two different teams hit the hardwood, as the scoring would be gone, for the majority of the second quarter.
“We struggled to bring the energy we needed on the court to try and pull off the upset,” senior guard Max Frohloff said. “We didn’t bring it on both ends of the court, and that’s what we needed.”
Millard West did start with back to back baskets to cut the lead to just two, 18-16. But just when the Wildcats thought they had a chance, the Mustangs battled right back with two baskets of their own. Those two baskets turned into a 10-0 run for the entire second quarter and as the team’s head into the locker room, Millard North held onto a 28-20 lead.
With Millard North having 18 points in the first quarter, and only 18 points scored combined in the second, both teams knew the scoring would have to start coming out of the break. And that’s exactly what happened for Millard West. A 10-0 run to start the third quarter. The most important part of the run was the one thing Millard West struggled with in the third quarter all year; a lead.
“Sometimes we just do a little too much,” head coach Bill Morrison said. “Whether it be bringing the ball up the court, or shooting too much, we just have to work on doing too much.”
But it was only a matter of time before something would give. That’s when Millard North’s Rollins really hit it into full gear, as he would end his night with 21 points off of 14 shots and nine going in. With a majority of his points coming in quarter one and three, the Wildcats 30-28 lead came and went, as Millard North would start the fourth quarter in front, 41-30.
The scoring wouldn’t stop for either team, but with Millard North winning every quarter in the points category, it would spell doom for Millard West, with the lead being as high as 13 points in the fourth, it was too much for Millard West as they fell to the Mustangs by a final score of 58-46.
