WiLdKats earn district crown, beat Jaguars

The Kimball/White Lake WiLdKats broke open a close halftime advantage to take a 67-56 win over the Corsica/Stickney Jaguars and claim the District 10B boys’ basketball championship Saturday at the Corn Palace.

The teams battled evenly over the first four minutes. With the game knotted at seven, C/S went on a 10-2 run and a 17-9 lead.

Baskets from K/WL’s Willie Norwood and Kyle Peters pulled the WiLdKats to within 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Slowly, K/WL climbed back into the contest. With 1:59 left until intermission the WiLdKats took their first lead since early in the game at 26-25 and went on to lead 33-30 at halftime.

The second half opened with the Jaguars’ Adam Bormann scoring to get C/S close at 33-32.

A Nicholas Blom basket brought the Jaguars to within 49-38 but the WiLdKats answered with a basket from Jesse Taylor, and K/WL took a 51-38 lead into the final stanza.

A C/S basket from Lane Thomas closed the deficit to 51-40 to open the fourth period, but the WiLdKats went on a 10-2 run and an insurmountable 61-42 advantage.

“We knew we had to come out hard and be real intense, but it ended up that (Corsica/Stickney) matched our intensity,” K/WL coach Kamden Miller said of the third quarter. “We had a time out and then Jacob (Kirsch) said, ‘Come on, guys. This is the time and right now turn it up.’ It was out guys playing together, being unselfish and making the extra pass. Everybody contributed.”

Taylor led the WiLdKat offense with 16 points, followed by Russell Pick with 14 points and Peters and Eathen Gaulke with 10 points each. Norwood grabbed 10 rebounds.

K/WL (16-6) was 28-of-53 for 53 percent from the floor and 8-of-15 for 53 percent from the free-throw line. The WiLdKats pulled down 35 rebounds and had 11 turnovers.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Kimball/White Lake,” C/S coach Mike Tuschen said. “Even though we scored right off the bat, we weren’t the aggressor on both ends of the floor. Defensively we were always chasing, and we were a step behind. We didn’t execute in the second half and didn’t play very good defense. That combination gives the results of what we got.”

The Jaguars were paced by Bormann with 14 points.

C/S (13-8) made 21 of 49 field goals for 43 percent and 10 of 14 free throws for 71 percent. The Jaguars had 27 rebounds and they turned the ball over 11 times.

K/WL takes on James Valley Christian at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for the Region 5B game at the Corn Palace and a spot in the state tournament.

K/WL 13 33 51 67

C/S 17 30 38 56

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