We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Senior Keahna Little eyes a long three pointer in early morning action of Fridays loser out contest against the Poplar Indians.
Wildcat senior Marcus Henry gets a bucket against the Indians as well.
Harlem senior Michael Butterfly scores a against the Poplar Indians Friday morning.
The Harlem Wildcats have had a season that included a little bit of everything, big wins, heartbreaking losses, thrilling down to the wire wins and great individual efforts.
The team made the short trip east to Malta this past weekend for the Northern B boys basketball tournament.
The Wildcats entered as the number three seed out of the District 2B and fell to the District 1B number two seeded Fairfield Eagles in the opener 73-56.
In loser out action Friday morning the team was again defeated this time by the Poplar Indians 69-50.
The District 2B teams were all in for a tough test in taking on the talented District 1B squads. The Wildcats gave one of the better efforts in battling the tough Fairfield Eagles.
Harlem matched the effort of the Eagles basket for basket for the majority of the opening stanza, trailing 14-12 entering the second quarter.
The Eagles cranked up their offense but were not able to pull away from a gutsy Wildcat team. Fairfield's fast break pace expanded the lead to 39-27 by halftime.
Harlem has been a gritty team all season long and weren't going to roll over. Much like the opening quarter with a few more points scored, the Wildcats matched the Eagles effort but trailing by 12 to start the quarter trading baskets didn't trim the deficit as Fairfield held a 59-45 advantage with eight minutes left.
In the end the Eagles earned a hard fought 73-56 lead in a contest that saw the Wildcats compete hard start to finish.
Senior Keahna Little paced the Wildcat offense with 16 points. Senior sharpshooter Marcus Henry added 15 and senior Corbin Brockie chipped in 10.
In the Wildcats lose out contest Friday morning they faced a familiar foe in the Poplar Indians, a team they had just beaten in the regular season finale 74-62.
This time around though Harlem started slow while the Indians offense took control early taking a 19-4 lead over the Wildcats into the second quarter.
Harlem couldn't do much better in the second and trailed 39-14 at the halftime intermission.
The Wildcats got the better of the Poplar boys late in the third and fourth quarters but a 25 point halftime deficit was just to much as their season ended with a 69-50 loss to the Indians.
Senior Michael Butterfly led the offensive effort for the Wildcats with 21 points, Henry and Little each added ten in the loss.
The Wildcats graduate talented seniors Michael Butterfly, Keahna Little, Marcus Henry and Cole Azure. Graduation will certainly take its toll but as is the case every year for any team.
Harlem will return a solid group of young athletes, many of whom garnered valuable minutes this season that will help them lead the team next year.
The team progressed from start to finish and will look to keep moving forward when they take the court for their first practice in November.
