by Brian Turrel
The Washington Wildcats defeated the Schlagle Stallions 57-40 Friday evening at the Washington field house.
The Wildcats used quick side-to-side reverses and skip passes to open their path to the basket, and ran out to a 20-7 lead. The distributed attack saw 7 scorers in the first quarter, none with more than 4 points.
The Wildcats were less choosy with shot selection in the second quarter, and strong rebounding by the Stallions, led by lanky senior Merle-Makel Peterson, limited the home team to one-and-done possessions.
Peterson got opportunities at the offensive end as well, fouled multiple times by the Stallions on drives to the basket. Washington held a 28-17 halftime advantage.
The Stallions closed within 6 points midway through the third quarter but Washington ran back out to a double-digit lead and didn’t look back, closing the game with several trips to the free throw line.
Calil White led the Wildcats in scoring with 14 points. Freshman Elliott Berry Jr. ran the point for much of the game and hit 3 three-point shots on his way to 13.
Jamell Wilson paced the Stallions with 12 points. Peterson hit 9 of 14 free throw chances in the game to total 11 points with only one score from the field.
The Wildcats improve their season record to 3-3 and are undefeated against Meadowlark Conference opponents, with successive wins over Sumner, Harmon, and now Schlagle. Washington will play Wyandotte on the road on Tuesday.
Schlagle drops to 0-7 for the season and will look to pick up its first win of the season when the Harmon Hawks come to visit on Tuesday. Both games will start at 7 p.m.
