Wildcats hit stride at end of season

by Diane Stamm

Grant tribune-sentinel

The season may have started out slow for the Wallace boys basketball team, but the group came together towards the end of the season.

The Wildcats won five or its final seven regular season games.

Head Coach Eric Miller said he was truly proud of how the team was playing their best basketball of the year at the end of the season.  

Miller called Wallace’s Feb. 10 upset win over Hitchcock County the high point of the season.

“They are a team that we respect greatly, and had beaten us by 36 earlier in the season. Our guys had confidence and played very unselfishly,” Miller said.  

Finishing as the D2-9 top seed and earning the right to host subdistricts was also an accomplishment Miller was proud of.

“The goal was certainly to win the subdistrict and qualify for a district final, but we did not have our best game against Medicine Valley and came up a little short,” Miller said.

Seniors Trey Robertson and Kyler Flaming led Wallace this year.

Robertson led the Wildcats in scoring, 13.7 ppg, assists and steals, and was second in rebounds.

Miller said Robertson has been a phenomenal leader over the last four years.  

“He has improved his game tremendously.  Nobody will hustle or work harder than Trey,” Miller said.

Robertson tied the single game assist record this year with nine.

Flaming was third on the team in points per game and steals per game.

“Kyler has been a great leader too, and is a kid that the younger kids really look up to and enjoy being around. He had some great games for us over the last few years,” Miller said.

“We will miss them both greatly and appreciate everything they have given to the team over the course of their high school career,” Miller said.

Juniors Matt Lungrin and Riley Strawder and sophomores Jason Fisher and Conner Kennicutt played in all 22 games, while sophomore Masen Messersmith missed one.

Lungrin was second on the team with 9.9 ppg and 1.9 steals per game. Lungrin tied the school record with nine steals in a game.

Strawder averaged a team high 5.6 rebounds per game and was second with 1.7 assists per game.

Miller feels like the future is bright.

“I am excited for the five players we return next year, as they all became completely different players by the end of the season. We will also add a big group of 8th graders which will help with our overall numbers,” he said.