Rand leads Wildcats to sectional semifinal win over Titans

MCDERMOTT — The Whiteoak Wildcats arrived to Northwest High School and extended their season in dominating fashion. The Wildcats not only gained a win in the Division IV SE District Sectional Tournament for the second consecutive season, but they won their semifinal game by taking advantage of miscues from Notre Dame and making shots when they had the opportunity, eventually leading to a 48-33 victory.

The win in the sectional semifinal game saw the Wildcats go from trailing by one point at the end of the first frame to leading by 11 points at halftime and 14 points after three quarters. With the win, the Wildcats will play for a sectional championship against No. 2 Green Wednesday, Feb. 27 at Northwest High School. In their history, the Wildcats are 13-time sectional champions, last winning a sectional crown in 2011.

The first half was a strong half for the Wildcats, especially the second quarter where they outscored the Titans, 17-5, opening the frame with two 3-pointers and from there dominating the eight-minute frame.

“We finally have everybody back, and I keep telling the guys you have taken some shots, had some lumps but we are starting to peak a little bit," WHS head coach Blake Kibler said. "What we have been preaching is the when the ball doesn’t go in the hoop, you have to play 10 times harder on the defensive end. That is what we did tonight. We shot the ball 39 percent from the field, but we held them (Notre Dame) to 33 points. Our guys want it. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win league and this is what it is, but now it is the Convo.”

Whiteoak — who trailed 8-7 at the end of the first frame — opened the second with a 3-pointer by Hunter Ruckel with 6:57 on the clock, then followed with a trey by Bradley Ashbaugh for a quick turnaround and a 13-8 advantage over the Titans with 5:47 on the second-quarter clock.

Following a timeout and a 3-pointer by Caleb Nichols, the Wildcats were right back at it in the scoring column with a put-back bucket by Zach Rand, as Rand led the Wildcats with 18 points.

“Zach is a beast," Kibler said. "These past four or five games he’s really stepped up, and we’ve been preaching to him that he can do it. Sometimes it just takes a couple games to realize he can do it. Zach is staring to get inside, and he’s starting to hit his free throws, too. He’s playing some really good basketball right now.”

After two more points by Notre Dame, the Wildcats were the ones cheering with four straight points off baskets that were a minute apart by Ryan Roberts and Rand (with the assist from Roberts), as the points in the paint increased the Wildcat advantage to 19-13 with 3:07 left in the first half.

Later in the frame, after the Wildcats called a timeout and the Titans scored two points in the paint, WHS scored the final points of the second frame with a two-point basket off a layup by Rand, with 1:49 on the clock, then a three-point play from Atlee Carr for the halftime lead of 24-13.

The second half was good for the Wildcats at the start of the third with a layup by Ruckel — who finished with eight points — and then a jumper by Traeten Hamilton, increasing their lead to 28-13. After two points from the Titans, Hamilton sank one of two tries from the free-throw line, giving the Wildcats a 29-15 lead with 3:41 on the clock in the third. Hamilton finished the game with seven points.

“We always say make (the opponent) call the first timeout. The first three minutes of the second half kind of tells the tale of the whole game, and they really stepped it up," Kibler said. "Just watching the ball go through the net, that is all we need.”

Notre Dame came back with a jumper from Cole Harrell, but like they did throughout the game, the Wildcats had an answer with a jumper from Yeager at the 2:02 mark of the quarter for a 31-17 advantage. The Wildcats eventually ended the third with a 33-19 lead as they had two final points in the third off a bucket by Ryan Roberts.

Notre Dame opened the fourth with two points from Nichols, but WHS equaled the feat as Rand powered his way in the paint for two more points to the Wildcats side of the scoreboard and a lead of 14 points with 6:52 on the clock.

The Titans came back with two points in the paint, but Rand took the Wildcats to the next level with a layup of his own, and later he sank two free throw baskets for a 39-23 Wildcat lead. Following a three-point play by Nichols, the Titans really began to warm up with a jumper from Ethan Kammer and a 3-pointer by Harrell for a 39-31 deficit as the scoreboard read 3:39.

Hamilton added to the Wildcat lead with a made free throw for a 40-31 score. Rand connected from the free-throw line too, going 2-for-2 with 2:12 left in regulation, giving WHS a 42-31 lead. Notre Dame wouldn’t fold, though, as Kammer sank a two-point bucket to cut the Whiteoak lead down to 11 points with just over 2:00 left in the game.

Even though they battled tough, the Titans just didn’t have enough in them to overcome the tough play by the Wildcats, as for good measure — after the Titans were forced to foul Whiteoak — Ashbaugh made one free throw and Hamilton scored two free throws in a row. Again, NDHS continued to foul WHS while trailing by 14 points, and the Wildcats happily added to their lead as Hamilton once again made another free-throw chance for a lead of 15 points.

As for the first frame, in the opening eight minutes of the game, both teams were nearly equal from the scoring side of things, as the Titans led 8-7, with WHS having points scored by Rand, Brayden Yeager and Ruckel.

Other final scoring for the Wildcats came from Ashbaugh, Roberts and Yeager, who each had four points, and Carr totaled three points.

Nichols led Notre Dame with 15 points.