WP boys add win at Cattle Trail Tourney

    Few things come easy each year at the Cattle Trail Tournament in McCook. The Wauneta-Palisade boys’ basketball team was able to pick up a win at the invitational last week and are now 2-3 on the season.
    WP faced Hitchcock County, coming off its state championship runain football, in its tournament opener Dec. 6.
    The Broncos struggled to find any offensive rhythm against the athletic Hitchcock County.
    Head Coach Joseph Frecks said the Falcons are the best defensive team WP has seen this year and the Broncos struggled to handle the ball in the 16-63 loss.
    In their second game, the Broncos faced Decatur Community, Kansas, a team that lost 5-61 to Maywood/Hayes Center in their first game. Played Friday, WP took a 51-42 win.
    Grayden Sutherland, Jacksen Littrel, Kyle Jutten and Ashton Wheeler all scored in the close first quarter. Although the Broncos took a 13-11 lead into the second quarter, WP only had one field goal, made by Michael Duvel, in the second quarter. With only five free throws to help, WP headed into the halftime locker room down 20-22.
    The Broncos got back on track in the second half. With five players scoring, WP regained the lead and took a 34-39 advantage into the fourth quarter. Going to the charity stripe often, WP was able to salt away the win.
    Freck said the first half was a defensive struggle for the Broncos and he was very proud of the way his team came out and played in the second half when it built a lead, and then held the Red Devils off late in the game.  
    WP was back on the court Saturday for its final game, this one against Southwest. Frecks said the 33-58 loss should have been much closer.
    The first half spelled doom for the Broncos. Sutherland, Littrel and Michael Duvel scored WP’s only field goals over the game’s first 16 minutes, leaving the Broncos trailing 25-38.
    “Similar to the Cambridge game on opening weekend, outside of about a six-minute stretch where we let them build a lead, we played even throughout the game,” Frecks said.
    Behind a better defensive effort and baskets by Duvel, Jutten and Aden Acton, WP played to within one point of Southwest in the third quarter. The same was true in the fourth. Matthew Blackman, Littrel and Wheeler hit baskets that didn’t let the Roughriders pull away.
    “Unforced turnovers on offense were an issue and a consistent defensive effort were struggles in the first half.  I am very proud of the way the boys competed and played defense in the second half,” Frecks said.
    The tournament was a great learning experience for his team, Frecks added.
    “I look forward to improving on the areas we struggled in and building on our strengths coming out of this tournament with some good practice time leading up to our next games,” he said.
Up next
    The Broncos have a Friday-Saturday doubleheader coming up this week.
    WP will travel to South Platte Friday and host Sandhills Valley Saturday.
    Frecks said South Platte is off to a great start and will be a solid team, especially playing at home.
    Sandhills Valley is 1-1 so far this season and Frecks said the Mavericks have plenty of size on their roster.