The Wild Rose Wildcats felt the sting of the Wautoma Hornets, 74-30, during the Jan. 7 Hwy 22 Showdown in boys’ basketball competition.
The opening tipoff went to Wild Rose, but Joe Ascher put Wautoma on the board first with a 3-point shot about a minute and a half into the game. Brett Wilbert put Wild Rose on the board about 30 seconds later with a bucket.
The score was slow in building at first as Carson Armstrong put up a bucket, followed by Brett Salm with a 3-point shot for an 8-2 Wautoma lead. Jonah Williams put in 2 for Wild Rose to cut the deficit 4-8 before the deficit was extended again by 3, 4-11, with 11:37 to play in the first half. Wilbert was able to cut the deficit with a 3-point shot for Wild Rose, 7-11, before Wautoma decided to step things up.
The hosts were down by 9 before Evan Tratz put up a 3 for a 10-16 deficit. He would put up another 3 later on, but it wouldn’t put a dent into the gap the visitors created. Ascher and Armstrong became forces to be reckoned with for the Hornets. Ascher racked up 19 points in the first half behind five 3-point shots, while Armstrong produced 15 points with four 3-point shots. When halftime arrived, the Wildcats found themselves in a 16-41 hole, having committed just 5 fouls to Wautoma’s 7.
Wautoma kept to its’ dominating plan in the second half of play, beginning with 3-pointers from Salm and Armstrong to increase the Hornet lead, 47-16. Tratz would put up 4 points for Wild Rose later, including 2 free throws, but the Wildcats weren’t about to catch up with their opponents who proved to be too strong.
Seven Hornets may have delivered a punishing blow to the Wildcats in the half, but Salm’s 9 total points, including 2 free throws, and Armstrong’s 8-total points did the most damage. Ascher and Clayton Wilcox contributed 5 points each, including a 3 from each.
Five Wildcats attempted to cut into the Hornet lead in the half, but Williams was the only one other than Tratz to score as much as 4 points, including 2 free throws. Logan Erdman was able to come up with 3 points. Try as they might, the hosts were forced to take a 74-30 loss.
Joe Ascher topped all eight Wautoma scorers with 24 points, hitting six 3-point goals. Carson Armstrong was right behind with 23 points, hitting five 3-point goals and 2 of 3 free throws. Brett Salm tallied 12 points which included two 3-point goals and 2 of 2 free throws. Clayton Wilcox had the only other 3-pointer for the visitors.
The Hornets recorded fourteen 3-point goals, 4 of 7 free throws, and 15 fouls in the game.
Evan Tratz topped all seven Wild Rose scorers with 10 points, hitting two 3-point goals and 2 of 2 free throws. Jonah Williams wasn’t far behind with 7 points, going 3-4 at the free throw line, while Brett Wilbert came up with 5 point which included a 3-point goal.
The Wildcats recorded three 3-point goals, hit 7 of 10 free throws and had 13 fouls.
