After struggling on offense for two quarters at Mount Pleasant Friday night (January 12), the #8 ranked Wildcats’ basketball team came from behind in the second half to take a 57-54 win. The Wildcats trailed 12-7 after one quarter and 26-16 at the half. Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta said the Wildcats played a bad first half with 17 turnovers.
However the Wildcats outscored the Tigers 21-12 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to a single point, 38-37 going into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats outscored Mount Pleasant, 20-16 in the fourth quarter to nail down the win. Coach Cipoletta said once his team settled in, they played really well. The only had 4 second half turnovers. Coach Cipoletta said all the guys really stepped up and made plays.
Victor Iwuakor led the Wildcats with 17 points. Godsgift Ezedinma had 13 points. Bryson Lynn scored 11 points and Keaston Willis added 10 points. Michael Jefferson and Xavier Cork had 4 points apiece. The game featured a battle of the top two teams in District 16-5A. The Wildcats are now 4-0 in district play and 21-3 for the season. Mount Pleasant suffered their first district loss and they are now 4-1 in district play and 19-5 overall. The Wildcats win broke a six game losing streak to Mount Pleasant. Before Fridaynight, the Wildcats last win was also in Mount Pleasant on January 28, 2014. That night current Wildcats Head Coach Clark Cipoletta was an assistant coach to then head coach Jeremy Josey. The Friday night win marked just the fourth Wildcats win in 23 games against Mount Pleasant going back to 2007.
The Wildcats continue district play next Tuesday at home against Greenville.
