Wallace boys split in two games last week

Wallace was back on the court last week with back-to-back games—a home game with Arthur Thursday and at Paxton Friday.  The Cats encountered two different teams, which led to two very different games.

Arthur

Thursday night the Wildcats wasted no time establishing the upper hand against Arthur. 

During the first five minutes, Wallace jumped out to an 11-4 lead. They went on to score an additional seven points while holding the Wolves scoreless.

The Cats continued to roll in the second quarter and built on their 18-4 lead. 

They started things out with three 3-pointers and they didn’t let up. Seven different Wildcats put points on the board as they extended their lead to 43-13 going into the halftime.

The second half went by quickly after Wallace put up 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to start a running clock with a 40-point lead. 

Arthur was able to get seven points late in the quarter but Wallace still had a 60-20 lead going into the final period.

Only two points were scored in the fourth quarter —a lay-up by the Wolves in the final minute to make the final score 60-22. 

Kolton Hager had the hot hand, putting up 24 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds, had  seven assists, three steals and a block.

Other Cats that contributed to the win were Camden McConnell and Alec Messersmith each with 11 points. 

Rounding out the scoring for Wallace were Tanner Finley 5, Kyler Flaming 4, Ethan Bowlin 3 and Trey Robertson 2.

Paxton

Friday night Wallace faced conference rival Paxton—a taller, more experienced team.

As the game got underway, Wallace stayed right with Paxton. The 3-ball was falling for the Cats and they were playing tough defense, making the Tigers earn every point inside. 

By the time the first-quarter buzzer sounded, Wallace had stayed within a point, 14-13.

The second quarter did not go as well for Wallace. In spite of their hard work, Paxton took off with their height advantage and dominated under the basket.  The Wildcats got an early free throw before Paxton scored 14 points.

Late in the quarter, Wallace put up a quick four points but Paxton responded with two 3-pointers to build a 34-18 halftime lead. Even though the second quarter did not go well, the Wildcats came out in the second half to compete. 

Camden McConnell started the third quarter with a 3-pointer and he ended with one as well. Meanwhile, Kolton Hager and Tanner Finley worked to get points inside. Even with the Cats efforts, Paxton went on to outscore Wallace by five points to extend their lead to 50-29.

Wallace continued to battle by knocking down 3 treys early in the final period and playing tough defense. With two minutes remaining in the game, they had cut Paxton’s lead down to 14 points. 

The Tigers, however, were able to get two more baskets to give them the 58-40 victory.

Leading the way in the hard-fought battle were McConnell and Hager. McConnell scored 16 points and had one assist and two steals. Hager scored 15 points and had five rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

Finley and Bowlin each scored 3 points, Tertullian Nayamakope with 2 and Messersmith with 1.

Wallace will have another two-game week. They played Dundy County Stratton on Tuesday and then begin RPAC Conference play on Saturday in Maxwell. 

Wallace will play Wauneta-Palisade at 4:15 p.m. CT. The second round of the tournament will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Hayes Center.