On Tuesday, Feb 13, the Millard South Patriots traveled to Wildcat country to take on Millard West, in their last home game of the season. Millard West after losing on a buzzer beater the year early were looking to grab some momentum before district competition and invoked revenge.
Both teams had been having rough years as the Wildcats lead by junior Reece Carson came into the game with a 10-10 record and the Patriots lead by Sophomore Isaac Jensen came into the game with an 7-11 record.
The Patriots would come out the game strong, starting off shooting extremely well. The Wildcats would try to react and answer but wouldn’t find the same success from the field as the Pats. The Patriots would grab a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We need to play a full 32 minutes of basketball,” head coach Bill Morrison said. “Sometimes we just do a little too much. Whether it be bringing the ball up the court, or shooting too much, we just have to work on doing too much.”
The scoring and success from the field would increase for the Wildcats in the second quarter as they nearly doubled their scoring output. But sophomore Isaac Jensen and the Patriots off-season couldn’t be stopped and would answer any offensive efforts by the Wildcats. The Cats would find themselves down 31-23 at the end of the first half.
“They started the half by playing a lot more physical and aggressive, so we knew we had to stay composed out there,” senior Tag Carmichael said. “Something was going to have to change in order for us the win.’’
Needing to stay strong out of the locker room the Wildcats would continue to struggle to shoot from the court. The Patriots would use the struggling Wildcats to almost double their lead and take 50-32 with one quarter to go.
“We struggled to bring the energy we needed on the court to try,” senior guard Max Frohloff said. “We didn’t bring it on both ends of the court, and that’s what we needed.”
The fourth quarter would be the most successful for the Wildcats lead by junior Reece Carson they would go on to score 27 points. The Patriots offense would continue to be productive. Towards the end of the game despite some impressive turnovers by senior Jace Ingerbretson and the team the Patriots would hit just enough free throws to win 69-59.
The Wildcats would go on to finish the season 10-13, and be eliminated by the Bryan Bears in the first round of districts. The team will be returning Carson and freshman Cade Walker from the starting lineup but will have to find replacements for the other 3 starters for the 2024-2025 campaign.
