Wildcat Basketball 

by Stephanie McKennon

Their productive season earned the Cunningham Wildcat men’s basketball team a bye in the first round of the Class 1A Regional Tournament last week. In the bout for the title was top seed South Central (13-8), Cunningham (11-9) at #2, South Barber (10-10), Haviland (8-11), Ashland (7-13), and Skyline (6-14).
Coach Miller’s Wildcats walked into the tournament with an air of confidence set to take on the Skyline Thunderbirds on Friday, February 27. CHS defeated Skyline 51-46 just two weeks prior. The T-Birds took down site host the South Barber Chieftains in the initial round. The trademark patient play by CHS paved the way for the Wildcats to battle Skyline with their own game. This did give way to plenty of fouls, which sent a player from Cunningham and two from Skyline to the bench with five violations and others close enough to leave coaches sweating.
The T-Birds rattled Cunningham in the first quarter. Scoring from behind the perimeter line for 9 of their 13 points, Skyline jumped to a 3 point lead over the Wildcats. Cunningham’s Grant Kerschen was the first to score for the Cats and from there, Cunningham’s 10 points came from J.C. Patton, Cody Beat and Cody Gridley.
In the second frame, Cunningham was spurred by the inside shooting of Beat. Beat fired in 8 pts. from the inside and went 1-2 from the line. G. Kerschen hit a trey while teammates Gridley, Patton and Vierthaler scored 2 points each. Jarrett Ziegler went 1-2 from the line. At the halftime buzzer the Wildcats had combined for 19 points. Skyline, on the other hand, was limited to 11 points. Cunningham led 29-24 at intermission.
In the third quarter, Grant Kerschen put the Wildcats on tap for a 15-9 roll with a 2-pointer and a trey. Beat chimed in with 6 points and G. Kerschen sank yet another deuce before Patton ended the quarter with two points. The remaining 8:00 of play began with Cunningham up 44-33.
The Wildcats spent the bulk of the fourth quarter at the free throw line. CHS was given 16 looks at the basketball goal from the free throw line and converted 9. G. Kerschen once again scored the initial bucket of this stanza and from there led the Cats in points donated with a total of  7. Patton went 2-2 from the line, C. Gridley 1 point and 3. Skyline attempted a bold comeback from their sluggish third frame with a sterling 17 points, but Cunningham’s tally of 13 was enough to hold on to the lead and win the contest 57-50.
Beat racked up 21 points to lead all scorers. Behind him teammate G. Kerschen put up 19 points, C. Gridley 4, Patton 2, and Ziegler 1. Cunningham went 13-25 from the line and was called on 20 fouls, which sent Kyle Kerschen to the bench.
Skyline’s high scorer was Jeffrey Rondeau with 19 points. Skyline went just 4-15 from the line and was called on 19 fouls, retiring starters Rondeau and Brian Moore for the season.
This win put Cunningham up against the top ranked South Central Timberwolves for the Class 1A Regional title game.
South Central defeated Ashland 62-42 in the top bracket of the second round of the tourney. The Timberwolves, a scrappy team composed of impressive senior leadership and underclassman potential, etched their way to fifth in their league by taking down teams across the western and southern tier of the region.  Their leader, Trae Beck, lists as a 6’3” senior on the squad.
Tip off put Levi Miller against Beat for control of the ball. Miller swatted the ball to a teammate who was unable to handle the rock and it rolled out of bounds, turning the ball over directly to Cunningham. With their first possession, the Cats tossed the ball into Beat who was fouled on a shot by Miller. Beat went 2-2 from the line to draw first blood. A wayward pass by the Timberwolves sailed out-of-bounds, once again giving Cunningham control of the ball. The Cats faced a stiff press in transition. Miller stole the ball at midcourt but crossed the boundary line before he could make a move for his team. From there, Cunningham once again performed an inbound pass play, giving the ball this time to Patton who scored a deuce. A rebound by CHS gave way to an insider by Beat, assisted by Andy Albers. Finally, with 4:51 on the board, the Timberwolves scored their first bucket of the game. With the Wildcats completely dominating the paint on defense, South Central was forced to shoot from the outside. Beck sank a high-arched 3-pointer. G. Kerschen scored the last Wildcat basket of the quarter following a bounce pass from Patton between a pair of defenders. From there, South Central worked their way to a 12-8 quarter ending score by pulling down rebounds, double teaming the ball and using that tight press.
Only 5 points were scored by Cunningham in the 2nd frame. The Wildcats did not seem frustrated, but were persistent in trying to peel the lid off of the rim that was seemingly keeping them from getting their shots to fall. Chris Osner, G. Kerschen and Patton combined for the gains. Meanwhile, South Central secured the halftime lead at 22-13 by sinking 10 points. The Timberwolves’ final basket of the half came on a buzzer beating three-pointer by Beck. From about two feet behind the arch, Beck leapt for the shot, tossed the ball up and fell to the floor while the ball ripped through the nylon to impress both teams’ crowds in the stands.
Possession went to the Wildcats in the breakout of the 3rd quarter. Patton tossed the ball into play and Cody Beat dished to C. Gridley who went inside and up for an early deuce. From there, South Central went on an 8 point run before being stalled by a rebound by Cunningham and a soft-touch-put-back by Beat. Following a time out, S. Central put up one shot attempt, which was rebounded by Beat, dished to Patton who drove the ball all the way home for two points. A two-pointer by G. Kerschen put Cunningham within 6 points of their adversaries. South Central kept their distance from Cunningham and with 2:33 left, the Timberwolves were up 32-26. Seeing their competition was looking tired, the Wildcats pounced and Albers scored a 3-pointer when his defender blinked. Back on defense, C. Gridley flew through the air to block a shot, setting S. Central up for the inbound. Kaler Hazen scored but just 20 seconds later, the Wildcats fired back. A deuce by C. Osner put Cunningham within 3 points of the tie. This margin remained until the final 20 seconds of play when S. Central hit a lay-up to lead 38-33 at the horn.               
Patton scored 8 points in the fourth quarter while Beat earned 6 and G. Kerschen 4, but the team’s 18 total was not enough to seize the victory from S. Central who scored 21 points. The closest Cunningham came was within the first minute of play when Patton’s 1-2 free throws put the score at 38-36. In the final seconds of the game, South Central had control of the ball and Cunningham, in true sportsmanship fashion, stood back and let the clock run down, knowing there was no reason to prolong the remaining time on the clock.  And as that ending buzzer sounded, a mature Cunningham team smiled at their defeaters amidst hand shakes and hugs and graciously accepted the Class 1A Regional Runner-Up Trophy.
Beck scored 33 points for South Central. Cunningham’s leaders were the duo of Patton and G. Kerschen who each had 15 points. Beat scored 12, Osner 4, C. Gridley 2 and Albers 3. Cunningham went 5-9 from the line.
What’s next for the Wildcats? A trip to Sub-State this Friday, March 6 at the Dodge City Civic Center. There, Cunningham will meet the 21-2 Macksville Mustangs. If you will recall, the Wildcats were downed by Macksville 38-68 back in January. State ranked at #7, Macksville will be looking for a repeat Friday while the Wildcats are bringing with them lessons learned and focus to try to keep their season alive.