MOUND CITY — The Yates Center High boys fought their tails off against a tough Jayhawk-Linn squad but ultimately fell short in their quest for a victory on Monday, 46-38.
The Wildcats (1-11; 0-4) came out sharp in the first half by keeping a high level of intensity while also playing calm and unforced basketball.
Yates Center led much of the game until the fourth quarter when Jayhawk-Linn erupted with 16 points.
Yates Center outscored Jayhawk-Linn in the first half, 13-10, behind Emmett Brittain’s trio of three’s and Emmit George’s pair of layups.
“I’m not typically one for moral victories, but our guys went out and competed against a very good team last night, and that makes me proud,” said Yates Center head coach Lane Huffman. “They’ve had a great start to the season and we’ve had a rough start. You couldn’t tell that on the court last night.”
Jayhawk-Linn answered in the first with Gus Grote scoring a trio of two’s and Braeden Nation going for a pair of layups. Both teams went back and forth in the second quarter before the Jayhawks took the lead right at halftime behind Nation’s 10 second quarter points.
Cash Cummings hit a three and George banked in a couple of layups but it wasn’t enough as Yates Center trailed Jayhawk-Linn heading to halftime, 23-22.
“We brought a high level of energy, but paired it with a calm approach,” Huffman said. “We didn’t force ourselves to play from behind, and we battled until the end… Our weakness was boxing out and getting defensive boards.”
Cummings added another five points in the third on a three and a two-point basket to lead his Wildcats but Jayhawk-Linn stayed ahead on a Nation three and Grote and Spencer each dribbled underneath for a two-point bucket.
Yates Center was able to knot up the score behind Cummings efforts heading to the fourth, 30-30.
Jayhawk-Linn’s offense exploded in the fourth when Grote went under for four two-point baskets, eight points in the quarter alone, and Nation made a layup and a free throw. The Wildcats scored eight points in the fourth, behind Cummings’ and Brittain’s three points apiece, but fell by the final eight-point margin.
“In the fourth we continued to give them multiple looks at the basket, which ultimately let them pull away,” Huffman added. “We would have loved to win this one. But going out and competing against a team like Jayhawk is a solid building block moving forward.”
Brittain and Cummings led Yates Center’s offense with 12 and 11 points, respectively. George also had nine points.
The Wildcats hosted Chetopa Tuesday. Results were unavailable by press time.
