Echo community correspondent Amanda Dodge contributed to this story.
Walkerville's
homecoming celebrations unfortunately didn't include a victory Friday
night, as the Wildcats fell to Big Rapids Crossroads 53-33.
If
there was a bright side for the Wildcats, it was that the 20-point
margin of defeat marked easily their closest game of the season, which
previously was a 71-13 defeat to West Michigan Lutheran in December.
The
Wildcats trailed 18-0 at the end of the first quarter and were much
more competitive after that. Coach Jeremy Dixon blamed himself for the
early deficit, saying he did not put his team in the correct defense to
start the game.
"That was on me. It wasn't on the players," Dixon said. "Once we readjusted our defense, that's when we made our run. It was a
bit late when I did it. It wasn't on (the guys). My players played hard."
Walkerville's Hugh Tanner heads up the court while Billy Zhou defends for Big Rapids Crossroads during Friday's homecoming game at Walkerville. Tanner was a leading offensive force for the Wildcats, but his team fell 53-33.
Walkerville
was able to attack the basket more often later in the game, with Hugh
Tanner one of the main reasons why. By going to the hoop, Dixon said
Tanner was able to draw some fouls against the visiting Cougars.
Dixon
also credited Ernest LeFevre for his work getting rebounds to keep the
Wildcats from falling further behind after the first quarter.
"The
second half (was) when we really buckled down," Dixon said. "But we dug
ourselves too
deep a hole and we just ran out of gas and ran out of time at the
end. We should've been running (our second-half) defense the whole
time...My team showed a lot of toughness and grit coming back, and I was
proud of them for that."
The Wildcats might be able to be
even more competitive in future games, Dixon said, if they can get some
more shots to fall. He said the team had open looks and weren't able to
knock them down.
"I need to make better adjustments quicker," Dixon said. "My team played really hard
tonight...I couldn't ask for more from them. They put
in a really good effort."
Wildcat statistics had not been reported at press time.
