By Staff

MOUNDRIDGE – Shaking off early game holiday break rust, the Moundridge boys began the 2023 side of their schedule by pummeling visiting Oxford 65-29 on their home court Tuesday.

Now 5-2 for the season, the Wildcats were ranked number two and number six in two polls for Class 2A just before Christmas. They will be on the road Friday at Marion.

After a sluggish first quarter where Moundridge found themselves trailing 14-12, the offense kicked in and the defense locked down in the second quarter where the Wildcats outscored Oxford 27-4 to take a commanding 39-18 lead into the halftime break. After putting another 22 points on the scoreboard in the third, Moundridge cruised in for the final 36-point victory.

“We got going in the second quarter by playing better defense and running better offense,” explained Wildcat head coach Vance Unrau. “We hit the glass tonight as well as we have as a team all year. We need to keep that stat going. We also shared the ball well which shows we have guys who have confidence in their teammates to make the extra pass.”

As a team the Wildcats out rebounded Oxford 35-23 while dishing out 22 assists on 25 made field goals.

Landon Kaufman connected on five three-pointers while leading Moundridge in scoring with 22 points. He also directed the offense along with Logan Churchill as they passed out eight and seven assists, respectively.

Also reaching double digits for the Wildcats was Barrett Moddelmog who made four three-pointers on his way to scoring 15 points and Henry Hecox who chipped in with 10.

Logan Churchill led the work in the paint by grabbing 12 rebounds.

MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATS hosting Oxford

SCORING: Oxford > 14-4-6-5=29; WILDCATS > 12-27-22-4=65.

TEAM STATS: Oxford > FGs 11/31; 3-PTs 2/12; FTs 5/14; AST 10; REBs 23; TO 6; STLs 0; BLKs 1; FLs 10. WILDCATS > FGs – 25/54; 3-PTs – 13/36; FTs – 2/8; AST – 22; REBs – 35; TO – 7; STLs – 10; BLKs – 5; FLs – 14.

WILDCAT INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring > Landon Kaufman – 22; Barrett Moddelmog – 15; Henry Hecox – 10; Logan Churchill – 8; Alec Huddle – 4; Zach Dixon – 2; Daniel Dixon – 2; Layton Schmidt – 2. Assists > Kaufman – 8; Churchill 0 7; Hecox – 5. Rebounds > Churchill – 12; Hecox, Huddle – 5; Z. Dixon – 4; Lane Durst – 3/ Kaufman, Moddelmog – 2. Steals > Hecox, Churchill, Z. Dixon – 2; Kaufman, Moddelmog – 1. Blocked Shots: Churchill – 4; Moddelmog – 1.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)