Wildcat Roundball Review 2006-07

Wildcat RoundballReview 2006-07

PUBLISHED BY THE CUBA FREE PRESS

PHOTOS BY CHRIS CASE

2D — March 15, 2007 Cuba Free Press

Clockwise from top left:Charlie Brockway takes it tothe hoop against theBourbon defense in a homegame; Nick Coronado avoidsa block; Josh Nix draws dou-ble coverage from theSteelville defenders; AndrewSetter flies after a loose ballin the Dixon game;Brockway draws body con-tact in the Dixon game; Nixwows the home fans bygoing high and hard to therim; Nick Brashear takes thebaseline against theWarhawks.

The Wildcat boys may havefinished the year with a losingregular season record, but youcouldn’t call it a down year.

For the second straight sea-son, the Cats entered the Class

3, District 9 tournament asunderdogs – but still managedto advance past the first round.

Cuba beat Steelville in thefirst round of the playoffs andthen fell to Dixon in the second

round.The Wildcats won 11 games

and lost 15 this season andwere four and six in GasconadeValley Conference play.

“We did a lot of things well,

and I’m proud of our guys,”said Coach Blair Thompson.“Our offense struggled at timesto score points, but we gavegood effort defensively almostevery time out on the floor. By

the time districts rolled aroundI felt like we had a defensiveteam that could pretty muchmatch up with anybody. Ourintensity level was that high.”

Coach Thompson believeshe has a lot to look forward tonext season, losing only onesenior from this year’s squad.“We’ll have a lot of guys comingback as seniors next season, sowe should be that much bet-ter,” he said. “We’re building alot of in-game experience andthat’s important in a youngteam.”

The Wildcats squad at theend of the year included: seniorNick Coronado; juniors JoshNix, Charlie Brockway,Anthony Meyers, AndrewSetter, Nick Brashear, A.J.Harman, A.J. Hughes andChip Lange; sophomoresGeorge Bourne, Wes Ousleyand Eli Breese; and freshmenPaul Grady, Brett Bosson andPaul Grady.

The varsity team wascoached by Thompson. The JVboys were coached by DerrickBranstetter. Justin Pockserved as assistant.

Cuba Free Press March 15, 2007 — 3D

Clockwise from left: A.J. Harman goes after aloose ball in the Steelville game; NickCoronado stretches out for another rebound;Josh Nix doesn’t mind a Bourbon triple teamin the lane.

Wildcats win in district playoffs, again

On the CoverNick Coronado, senior,gets some hang time inthe homecoming win overBourbon.


Wes Ousley (farleft) drives thebaseline againstDixon. Ousley andChip Lange (nearleft) in an all-outscrum with theWarhawks for aloose ball.

Brett Bosson (left) Wes Ousley(above) and Eli Breese (right) in thejunior varsity game at Bourbon HighSchool.


Clockwise from top: Brett Bossongoes up and under against Bourbon;Paul Grady gets a layup opportunity;Anthony Meyers looks for spaceagainst a Steelville defender; GeorgeBourne posts up against a Viennaplayer.


Clockwise from top left: KylieEttinger dribbles toward a Bourbondefender; Casey Watson gets defen-sive pressure handling the ball; KaliRikard fights for a loose ball; Rikarddrives past a Lady Cardinal.

What a season the LadyWildcats of Cuba High Schoolplayed in 2006-07.

For the first time this decade,the varsity girls finished with awinning regular season record, awinning record in conferenceplay and advanced past the firstround of the district playoffs.

The varsity won 13 games andlost 11, and was 6-4 against GVCopponents. Their record markeda major turnaround for the LadyCats ball program.

“We had an infusion of goodyoung players, mixed with someof the girls that were already inthe program,” said Coach YanceyTemple. “That helped gel us as ateam, and it gave us more speed.”

With better team speed on thesquad, the Lady Cats were ableto successfully introduce a moreuptempo style and apply greaterpressure defensively. Betterpressure led to more turnovers,which led to fast break opportu-nities and easy scores.

“We tried some new thingsthis year and the girls really tookto the style,” Temple said. “Wehave a lot to build on next year,and my expectations are veryhigh. This year has been a lot offun for the coaches, for the play-ers and for the fans; and I wantto build on that for next year andkeep a winning tradition in Cubagoing strong.”

The varsity defeated the LinnWildcats in the first round of dis-tricts and advanced to secondround, where they fell to theDixon Lady Bulldogs.

As great as the varsity played,the JV was even better, as theynearly won every game theywere in. Larry Mueller coachedthe junior varsity girls.

The Cuba Lady Cats rosterincluded: senior Sarah Foster;juniors Shannon Hewkin, ElanaPettigrew, Taylor Turnbough,Tara Yates and BriannaBlankenship; sophomores CaseyWatson, Jaime Sanders andChristy Hutson; and freshmenTaylor Albert, Haylee Bess, KylieEttinger, Kali Rikard, MariahMontgomery and DanielleWatring.

Lady Cats finish with winning record


Clockwise from top left:Elana Pettigrew lets loose across-court pass; TaylorTurnbough goes into the laneagainst Belle; Pettigrewfights her way toward thebasket; Shannon Hewkinmakes a layup; a lefthandedHewkin takes a short jumpshot; Kali Rikard gets readyto pass it inside the lane.


Clockwise from top left: Senior SarahFoster runs the offense, looking topass to Kylie Ettinger in the post;Taylor Turnbough rejects a Steelvilleshot; Ettinger goes up for an easytwo; Elana Pettigrew is cornered onevery side by the Lady Tigers.


Clockwise from top left: DanielleWatring gets an easy fast breaklayup following a steal againstLaquey; Haylee Bess goes upstrong over a defender; TaraYates tosses an outlet passbeyond the hands of a Belleplayer; Bess gets up close andpersonal with a defender; JaimeSanders gets ready to pull up fora jump shot.


Clockwise from top left: Jaime Sandersdenies a pass during a junior varsity press;Haylee Bess fights a Belle player for the bas-ketball; Casey Watson drives past a defenderon her way to the basket; Christy Hutsonchases after a loose ball; Mariah Montgomeryis determined not to let the Lady Tigers get aloose ball.


The Cuba Middle School eighthgrade boys basketball team had one oftheir best seasons ever in the fall of2006. The team went 14-1 last fall,and started out the schedule by win-ning their first 13 games.

The eighth graders defeatedViburnum twice, Vienna twice,Steelville four times, Bland twice, St.Clair once and Bourbon twice. Theironly loss came in their third meetingagainst Bourbon. The St. James sea-son finale was cancelled due to snow.

“The eighth grade only had oneblemish on their spectacular season.I’m so proud of them,” said CoachClyde Ditto.

The seventh grade Wildcats wonfour of their first five games, but thenlost their last four. The final threegames of the schedule were snowedout and cancelled.

The seventh grade team defeatedViburnum twice, Steelville once andBland once. They lost twice toBourbon, once to St. Clair, once athome against Steelville and alsoagainst the Vienna Eagles.

“The seventh grade team went fourand five but played in many closegame where it could have gone eitherway,” said Ditto. “Overall, this was agreat year for the Wildcat middleschool basketball teams. Both teamsshowed the heart and desire it takesto be not only a successful team, butalso a fun team to be around. I amproud of these guys for giving me andCoach Pock their commitment andrespect all year.”Ditto also said he appreciated theparents and administration for theirsupport of the teams. “This year, justlike any other year, it was a totalteam effort by everyone, on the courtand in the stands,” he said.

The eighth grade CMS rosterincluded: Nick Kruse, PrestonMatchell, Caleb Sanders, ShaneRichards, Harold Curtis-Allen, RyanHewkin, Tyler Fillipi and DaltonReeves.

The seventh grade team includedJohn Heintz, Jake Ettinger, ChrisMcCollum, Konner Gehrett, NikitaGahr and Jordan Brown.

Clyde Ditto and Justin Pockcoached the teams, with Tyler Boldenserving as team manager.

CMS boys nearly go unbeaten in ‘06

Clockwise fromtop left: NickKruse creating alane againstBland; CalebSanders outsizingan opponent in theCuba Tournament;and the CMS 8thgrade Wildcats,after winning theCuba Junior HighBoys TournamentChampionship:(front) Kruse,Shane Richards,Ryan Hewkin,Dalton Reeves,(back) CoachClyde Ditto, HaroldCurtis-Allen,Sanders, PrestonMatchell, TylerFilippi and CoachJustin Pock.


Coached by Yancey Temple and SteveSchuette, the seventh and eighth gradeWildcat girls put on an impressive 2006 cam-paign. Photo highlights from the year includ-ed (clockwise from top left) Amber Whitetaking it to the hole against Bland; CaitlinEikermann in the post; seventh grader KateSteiger getting off her shot; Sam Andersonwith a layup; Autumn Johnson, seventhgrade, looks for a teammate; seventh gradeLady Cat Erin Swope gets ready for a long-range jumper.

CMS girls have a superb year

Documents

Wildcat Roundball Review 2006-07