By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

MOUNDRIDGE – While the Moundridge boys did not match up with Bennington well in size, they shot lights out on Tuesday on their way to scoring a 12-point, 74-62 victory on the home court in Moundridge.

The Wildcats managed to take a four-point, 17-13 lead into the second quarter and pushed it out to a nine-point advantage at 39-30 heading into the halftime break.

Putting another eight points on their lead by the end of the third quarter, 60-43, the Wildcats held on to an attempted rally by Bennington in the final eight minutes to secure the final 12-point win.

“We got tested tonight,” noted Wildcat head coach Vance Unrau. Bennington had size, six-foot-six and six-foot-four, that move well and can stretch the defense.”

While Bennington out rebounded Moundridge 21-14, the Wildcats hit on 64% of their shots from the field, including a blistering 61% from beyond the three-point arc as they connected on 14 three pointers in the game, led by five made by Logan Churchill while Joseph Schrag made four and both Landon Kaufman and Henry Hecox chipped in with a pair.

Coach Unrau concluded his post-game reflections by adding, “We shot it well again tonight from the perimeter and shared the ball with each other.”

Kaufman led the Wildcats on offense with 23 points on the night thanks to making 11-of-13 free throws while Churchill finished with 20 and Joseph Schrag had 13. Joseph Lane just missed double digits with nine.

Kaufman not only led the offense in scoring, he also directed much of the offense and dished out nine assists as the Wildcats recorded 17 assists on 21 made shots.

On defense, Churchill blocked three shots and both Kaufman and Lane made three steals.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATS?

On Friday, the Wildcats will host Hutchinson Trinity Catholic.

Bennington at MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATS

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

Bennington     13        17        13        19        62       

WILDCATS       17        22        21        14        74       

TEAM STATS:             

Bennington = FG 23/47 (49%); 3-PTR 9/20 (45%); FT 7/14 (50%); AST 18; RBS 21; TO 11; STLS 5; BLKS 0; PF 19.

WILDCATS = FG 21/33 (64%); 3-PTR 14/23 (61%); FT 18/22 (82%); AST 17; RBS 14; TO 11; STLS 10; BLKS 3; PF 15.    

MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (74 Total Points): Landon Kaufman – 23; Logan Churchill – 20; Joseph Schrag – 13; Joseph Lane – 9; Henry Hecox – 7; Barrett Moddelmog – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (14): Logan Churchill – 5; Joseph Schrag – 4; Henry Hecox, Landon Kaufman – 2; Joseph Lane – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Landon Kaufman, Logan Churchill, Barrett Moddelmog – 3; Joseph Schrag, Joseph Lane – 2.

Assist Leader: Landon Kaufman – 9; Henry Hecox – 4; Joseph Lane – 2.

Leader in Steals: Landon Kaufman, Joseph Lane – 3; Logan Churchill – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Logan Churchill – 3.