On Friday, Nov. 6, the Millard North Mustangs traveled to Millard West to take on the Wildcats in the season opener. West was looking to take down a district rival who also happened to be the No. 1 team in Nebraska.
The Wildcats came the game hoping for returning players like senior Trey Abara, senior Reece Carson, and sophomore Cade Walker to stop North’s star Derek Rollins, who dropped 21 points on 75% shooting in the last matchup.
The Mustangs jumped out the gate taking an early 8-1 lead. The Wildcats, however, battled their way back into the game, finishing the quarter 11-11, tied with the Mustangs.
The momentum unfortunately shifted into the favor of the Mustangs, as star forward senior Derek Rollins made five three-point shots in the quarter, which helped him make 7, which tied the school record. This, along with the stellar Mustang defense caused the Wildcats to have an abysmal performance in the second quarter, being outscored 14-27, making the score 25-38, at half.
Head coach Bill Morrison knows what went wrong during the quarter and is ready to shake off the early season rust that affects most teams.
“Rollins shot it better than he normally does,” Morrison said. “But we need to recognize that and not let him get good looks at the basket. Offensively, we stood around too much and did not get very many easy shots. We have to move better offensively and put pressure on their defense.”
The Wildcats kept it competitive in the third, only being outscored 9-15. Despite this effort, the team knew that it would’ve taken a near perfect quarter to bring them back into this one, as they now were down 34-53.
Senior Jayden Kozney wants to correct the occasional misstep that caused the hole to be too deep for the Cats to climb out of.
“I think we had a couple mental lapses during the second and third quarters that ultimately put us in a hole that we couldn’t get out of,” Kozney said. “We just need to be staying engaged and fighting the whole game and never taking breaks.”
West tried fighting back in the fourth, but in the end it wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats fell to the Mustangs 44-66. Despite the loss, sophomore Cade Walker wasn’t to blame, as he put up an impressive 16 points, and at times was the teams only offensive weapon.
Even though he had an incredible performance, he isn’t satisfied with the squad’s performance.
“We were looking to hopefully win that game, as our goal is to make it to state,” Walker said. “So points, yeah it’s cool and all, but I’d rather just win the game.”
The Wildcats leave this game against No.1 ranked Millard North with a plethora of things that they have learned. Whether it is that they can hang with teams like Millard North, but only until they have a few mental errors that cause them to fall behind. No matter what team you’re facing, letting the opponent gain momentum at half by doubling your 2nd quarter point total is a recipe for disaster. Luckily for the Wildcats, this is something that nearly every team has happen, and at least it came early in the year instead of in the playoffs.
