Wildcat squads roll past Flinthills High Mustangs

ROSALIA — Yates Center High’s Wildcat boys and girls stepped out of Tri-Valley League play Thursday to take on Flinthills High’s Mustang teams
It was a good night for Wildcat basketball.
The Wildcat girls cruised past the Lady Mustangs 44-25. Yates Center improved to 4-6 while keeping Flinthills winless in 10 games.
Yates Center’s boys overpowered the Mustangs 70-46.
The Wildcats are 6-4 overall as Flinthills dropped to 1-9.
The Wildcat girls jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter. They just kept adding to it for an 18-9 halftime margin.
Yates Center outscored Flinthills 26-16 in the second half.
“We played hard the whole game and ran our offense,” said Abbie Collins, YCHS girls’ head coach. “We really re-bounded well. We’re still working to improve.”
Kassy Reynolds tossed in 16 points and controlled 10 rebounds for Yates Center. Autumn Douglas had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Cherokee Shaffer pulled down 12 rebounds. Emily Baker made eight steals.
Flinthills got 16 points from Hope Harsh. She made 10 free throws.
In the boys’ game, Yates Center opened with a 18-6 first-quarter run. They led 26-13 at halftime and never were threatened by the Mustangs in the second half.
“We played well and a lot of kids contributed tonight,” said Jason Weilert, Wildcat head coach. “We played very well defensively in the first half.”
Dalton Smith ripped the nets for 18 points, which included two three-pointers. Jake Morrison tossed in 16 and Dylan Sicka added 15.
The Mustangs dropped in 15 of 25 free throw attempts. Kyle Vogt led Flinthills with 19 points.
“We’re still up and down at times. We’re still learning,” Weilert said. “We’re getting better and moving forward each game.”
In a boys’ junior varsity game, Flinthills defeated Yates center 39-34. Blake Francis scored 12 points for Yates Center.
Next week is “makeup week” for the Wildcat teams. Sandwiched in between two regularly scheduled games are big Tri-Valley League rivalry games with Humboldt.
Yates Center is at home Tuesday with West Elk in non-league play.
Then comes back-to-back TVL doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday. The Wildcat teams travel to Humboldt Thursday. On Friday, they are at home against Burlington.
“It’s a big week for us,” Weilert said. “We haven’t seen either Humboldt or Burlington this season.”
Yates Center’s boys are 3-2 in league play while the girls are searching for their first TVL win.
Yates Center girls (10-8-9-17—44) (FG/3-pt): Hartwig 3-0-5-6, Spencer 1-2-4-4, Crellin 0-0-1-0, Reynolds 6-4-5-16, Douglas 3-5-3-11, Shaffer 1-2-3-4, Baker 0/1-0-1-3. TOTALS: 14/1-13-22-44.
Flinthills girls (2-7-5-11—25) (FG/3-pt): Bell 0-1-5-1, Harsh 3-10-4-16, Tibbets 0/1-0-3-3, Fullerton 2-0-5-4, Finstad 0-0-2-0, T. Whiteside 0-0-2-0, Stephens 0-1-3-1, D. Whiteside 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 5/1-12-25-25.
Yates Center boys (18-8-20-24—70) (FG/3-pt): George 1-2-1-4, Sicka 6/1-0-2-15, Bennett 3-0-5-6, Morrison 6/1-1-2-16, Knoblock 0-2-2-2, Francis 0/1-0-1-3, Stockebrand 2-0-1-4, Rice 1-0-1-2, Smith 5/2-2-3-18. TOTALS: 24/5-7-18-70.
Flinthills boys (6-7-18-15—46) (FG/3-pt): Breech 3-1-5-7, Simon 0/1-0-0-3, Stands 1-2-0-4 Vogt 7-5-2-19, Oates 0-2-1-2, Arnold 1-1-1-3, Sjogren 2-4-3-8. TOTALS: 14/1-15-12-46.