Wildcats handle Neodesha to open season

YATES CENTER — The Yates Center Wildcats aced their season opener Thursday night with wins for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.

ON THE boys’ side. Yates Center star guard Aaron King ended the night with 22 points — tying last year’s season average — leading the hometown Wildcats to a 62-54 victory over the Blue Streaks from Neodesha.

As the crowd was filing out of the gym after the game, a fat man with a beard said to his small bald friend, “It wasn’t pretty, was it? But, hey, they got it done,” which was as good a description as any of Thursday night’s scrappy season opener.

If the Wildcats boasted the more rounded roster on the night, the Blue Streaks entered the game with at least one advantage, and it was this: During the previous four years, Neodesha Head Coach Tanner Davis was Yates Center Head Coach Tanner Davis. Having helped build the team against whom he flung his mettle on Thursday, Davis was better placed to stop King and his supporting cast of Wildcats than any other coach in the league, and yet — largely due to the home team’s unselfish play, stifling defense, and deeper bench — Yates Center maintained the top spot on the scoreboard for the duration of the game’s 32 minutes.

But it was never a cakewalk. The two teams remained locked in a defensive battle for most of the first quarter, until, around the six-minute mark, the Blue Streaks dropped back into a zone defense, which the Wildcats were all too happy to pick apart by sending a slashing King into the center of the lane, where, with his long arms and quick footwork, he couldn’t help but score. At the end of the first eight minutes, the Cats were up 15-6.

The gas pedal still depressed, Yates Center continued to drive up the score in the second quarter, until midway through the period, King snagged a defensive rebound, dribbled through traffic the length of the court, before swiftly dispatching a final defender with a jaunty Euro Step and an easy lay-in, giving the Wildcats their largest lead of the game (23-8).

It was all too much to stomach for Coach Davis. He shouted for a timeout. Whatever encouragement or threats he poured into his players’ tender ears during that brief TO, however, it worked. The Blue Streaks came out firing and pulled within five, 27-22, in the final seconds of the half.

But then Yates Center guard Eastern Reynolds went and ruined everything. The six-one junior put the Reynolds Wrap on the first half by nailing a big three, which sent the Wildcats into the locker room up 30-22.

Neodesha would mount similar rallies throughout the second half of the contest, too, but it was never quite enough.

Hadley Splechter ended the night as the Cat’s second-leading scorer. He had 11. Senior Nolan Jones deposited 9. Junior Asher Sievers added 6.

Aaron King won’t reign forever. And while it’s probably too early in the season to worry about who will assume the senior’s throne once he graduates, I’d like to suggest a successor: six-four freshman Kendrick Jones. Tall, quick, an able scorer, the lanky frosh is quick off the dribble and can shoot over any defender thrown his way. He’ll present a sure mismatch for every team that faces him. He’s young; he’ll put on muscle, he’ll up his court IQ. He’ll be great fun to watch.

The Wildcats host their Winter Classic tournament starting Monday.

The Yates Center girls made a tidier meal of their competition Thursday night. The Wildcats topped the Blue Streaks 45-32.

Yates Center returns most its starters for the 2018-19 season, and it shows. But poise and experience are just pretty nouns unless you also manage to put the ball in the basket, which they did in their season opener versus Neodesha and which they’re positioned to do game in and game out all year.

Yates Center is a tough team to guard. Opposing teams will expend most of their mental calories preparing to guard the Wildcats’ two dominant six-footers, senior Allison Pringle and junior Taylor Jacobs, both of whom are versatile scorers, frustrating defenders and powerhouses on the glass.

But then — and this is what happened Thursday night — while you’ve got your eye on the duo in the post, it will be the Wildcats’ guard play that kills you. The game’s leading scorer was point guard Jaylee Catron, who had 17 points on the night, 13 of which came in the first half. Spot-up shooter Madelyn Collins was quieter in her first game of the season — scoring just five — but is typically a laser from three-point land.