Strong second half leads to Wildcat win

MOULTON — The Wildcats needed a big third quarter to get back into the game against their rivals in Moulton (3-3) in their District 30-1A matchup on Tuesday. They got just that and more as Waelder took the lead and kept it throughout, knocking off the Bobkatz 51-40 to move to 4-2 in district.

“Pretty much the whole season we’ve been a third quarter team,” Waelder head coach Brandon Howard said. “That’s when we make runs. We start real slow but the third quarter we tend to pick it up. I think the same thing happen there. We were down four at half and ended the third quarter up four, that’s an eight-point swing and guys just stepped up in the third quarter. As a coach, you wish we could just start off fast but it is what it is.”

Down 27-21, the Wildcats ran off a 12-0 run as senior guard Tracy Moore assisted or scored in 10 of those points. Even as Moulton tried double teaming Moore, the Wildcat was able to get to the basket and convert on and-one baskets. He scored 15 points in that half, leading the team in points with 19.

“Tracy is our leader on and off the floor,” Howard said. “It’s his senior year. He wants it and it shows when he plays. He doesn’t want it to be his last game so he just gives it his all. The guys feed off his energy.”

As Moulton closed in, cutting the lead to two points, Waelder again ran off a run, this time an 11-2 run before the Bobkatz scored a bucket then called a timeout. During that run, big plays were made by not only Moore but Waelder’s young post player in Alex Ontiveros.

“It’s becoming his turn to step up and he stepped up to the plate and took the challenge,” Howard said of the sophomore. “He’s always been a skilled big man for us, he just never got the opportunity and now he’s got the opportunity and he’s taking full advantage of it. Ontiveros finished the night with 10 points, getting six of them during that run.

Despite the 11-point win, Howard mentioned that the game was closer than the score indicated.

“It’s always going to be back and forth [with rivalries],” he said. “You can’t take anything away from Moulton, they’re a very well coached bunch and they played really hard. It’s a rivalry game so I didn’t expect just to come in and beat them in their own house, even when they came to our house it was a really close game.”

The Wildcats (4-2) move to second place behind Dime Box (6-0), with four games left on the schedule. In order to continue their success, Howard believes his team can’t take any teams for granted. Their loss against Fayetteville is one that’s stung, especially with a Wildcats team that’s fighting for a district title.

“We just got to come out and play hard every game,” Howard said. “Teams are out to get us. We’ve been pretty successful the last couple of years and teams want to knock us down.”

Waelder hosts Round Top-Carmine (0-6) tonight, with tipoff set at 6:15 p.m.