Bronaugh Wildcats fall in district tournament play

Bronaugh's Chance Wait shoots for two of his 17 points in Thursday night's district tournament loss to Appleton City.

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

HUME-- For the second consecutive year, the Bronaugh Wildcats boys' basketball team found itself headed to the Class 1, District 7 Tournament semifinals, pitted against the Bulldogs of Appleton City High School Thursday night.

Last year, the two squads met in the same spot and Appleton City came out on top by a final score of 72-69, in overtime, on the way to losing to Drexel in the championship game. This year's contest was a bit different, but the result was the same, as the Bulldogs took the victory by a final score of 53-42.

Both squads entered the contest knowing not only that a trip to the district championship, but exactly who they would face, as the Drexel Bobcats punched their ticket to the title game with a 72-46 victory over Montrose in the first semifinal game.

As the contest began, a raucous, near-capacity crowd wasted little time showing its support for both squads. That energy was all both squads needed to open up the contest with a flurry that ultimately resulted in 23 first-quarter points.

Despite having a three-point lead, at 13-10, after the first 8 minutes, the Wildcats were unable to keep up the momentum in the second quarter and ultimately got outscored, 10-2, turning what was a slim lead into a 20-15 halftime deficit. In the frame, the Wildcats converted on just one of their 12 field-goal attempts, bringing their total shooting percentage to just 28.5 percent for the half.

Those shooting woes continued for the Wildcats throughout the contest and head coach Sean Crane's squad ultimately finished the night 16-for-49 (32.6 percent), while Appleton City went 18-for-41 from the field to finish at 44 percent.

Things never really got much better in the second half for the Wildcats as they got outscored by 10 points for the second consecutive quarter when the two squads returned to the floor after halftime. Though Crane's squad was able to put together its best quarter of the night in the contest's final 8 minutes -- pouring in 21 points -- the Bulldogs kept up when it counted, putting up 16 of their own in the frame to hold on for the victory.

By the time all was said and done, not only did shooting and rebounding struggles ultimately prove to be the deciding factor for Bronaugh, but the turnover bug played a significant role in Thursday's outcome, as well. The Wildcat's finished the night with a total of 14 giveaways to Appleton City's eight.

Foul troubles were a significant point of issue for the Wildcats in the contest, as well, as several players found themselves flirting with the possibility of fouling out, by game's end. Three players for the Wildcats -- Thomas Kerbs, Gabe McEntire and Justin Hudson -- did foul out of the game, ultimately leaving the Wildcats far more short-handed than they were used to in the closing minutes.

Chance Wait led the offensive effort for Bronaugh in the contest with 17 points. Jacob Hendrix added nine, while Bryce Whitworth finished with six, Kerbs had four, and Hudson and Cole Diggins rounded out the offense with three apiece.

Truman Burchett led the offense for Appleton City in the winning effort with 19 points and was joined in double figures by Raoul Van Dok with 13.

With the loss, Bronaugh's season came to an end with a record of 13-13, while Appleton City moved on to the tournament championship game. That contest was played Friday night, at Hume High School.

Drexel came out on top in the title game by a final score of 56-27 to advance to the next round of the state playoffs, where the Bobcats will take on the District 8 champion Tuesday, in Sedalia, Mo.