Houston lights it up, San Perlita next for Wildcats.

POTEET – Destined to start the newest chapter to the Waelder Wildcats season started with a bang on Friday.

In impressive fashion, the Wildcats simply used its sheer speed and athleticism to give the Leakey Eagles fits in a 53-40 win for a 1A-D2 area win at Aggie Gym.

Waelder (27-6) advances to the UIL Region IV quarterfinals on Wednesday where they will face the dangerous San Perlita Trojans in Gregory-Portland at 7 p.m.

Waelder senior Dontrai Houston was unstoppable posting a double-double in the win with 18 points and 10 rebounds along with three assists and three steals.

Leakey began the game with a bucket by sophomore Tanner Pannell to open the quarter with an Eagles 2-0 lead, which ultimately was the only lead the struggling team could manage.

Waelder’s defense was treacherous forcing five Leakey turnovers and nabbing the ball out of Eagles’ hands nine times.

Junior Torrey Fields scored the first basket for the Wildcats that sparked the crowd that kept the Eagles at bay for most of the game. Fields finished the night with 14 points, three assists and one steal.

Waelder took a 6-point lead near the end of the first quarter when sophomore Myron Williams rebounded three of his own misses and tapped in the third for an and-one opportunity that gave the Wildcats a 12-6 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Cory Fonseca picked off Leakey’s Patrick Mound and assisted Houston on a layup to increase lead 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Houston continued to dazzle and helped the Wildcats take a 26-17 lead at the half, scoring four points with three rebounds.

In the third quarter, Leakey wouldn’t go away answering William’s 3-pointer at the start with a 3-pointer by Emilio Navarro. Drew Shackelford then hit a 3-pointer to help chip away at the Waelder lead.

Leakey pulled to within seven points after Tanner Pannell tapped in his own miss, but sophomore Clay Orona silenced the Leakey crowd draining a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 41-31 lead. Both teams exchanged layups to end the third quarter 43-33 in favor of Waelder.

In the fourth quarter, Waelder settled without Williams, who suffered foul trouble but it didn’t stop the Wildcats.

Torrey Fields took over and scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to subdue the Eagles.

Unfortunately, the game ended with both teams scuffling then escalating to the crowd on both sides of the gym. Both teams were escorted out of Poteet High School gym.

Tanner Pannell led the Leakey Eagles with 14 points. Navarro and Shackelford followed with seven points each.