Post Messenger Recorder -

On January 11th, the Wildcats played the Abundant Life Challengers. Coach Jared Wichser had this to say, "Against Abundant Life we got off to a terrific start.  We were getting stops on the defensive end and keeping them off of the offensive glass early on.  At the other end we hit some nice shots to get us out to a 10-point lead or so.  They responded with a nice run of their own and we trailed by 1-point heading into half-time."

The half-time score was Belleville 25, Abundant Life 26.

Wichser continued, "At half-time we talked about getting to the rim and not settling for perimeter shots early on.  The boys came out and really executed our game plan with a sense of urgency in the second half.  We went 12/15 inside the paint and eventually that opened up some perimeter shots for some of our shooters who took advantage of the open looks."

The Wildcats outscored the Challengers in the second half to win the game, 51-37. Daniel Meier put 25 points on the board for the win. Brock Kelly scored 20 points and Drew Shrader had 15 points. Wichser commented, "It was a complete team effort, though."

Spencer Wright scored 29 points for the Abundant Life, while teammates Will Donohoe scored 12 points and Obi Iwuagwu had 8 points.

The next night, January 12th, the boys went to Waterloo. "Once again, we began the game with a nice run but Waterloo showed they're a tough team and they quickly recovered and made a run of their own.  The game went back and forth and we went into the locker room up 24-19," said Coach Wichser.

The Wildcats outscored the Pirates in the second half, getting the win. The final score was Belleville 69, Waterloo 61.

"Our victory against Waterloo was probably our most impressive victory to date.  When you think about the fact that our boys were on the road the night before and we didn't get a practice to prepare and implement our game plan while going on the road again, I just think it speaks volumes about the character of this group.  These boys don't make excuses though...any of them.  Once again, the boys came out with a great sense of urgency, executed some sets early on and really controlled the game for a majority of the second half.  Waterloo never quit and was able to knock down some tough shots and turned us over a couple of times late in the game.  Our boys went to the FT line and knocked enough of them down when it really counted though," commented Wichser.

Daniel Meier led the Wildcats with 20 points, while Drew Shrader contributed 14 points towards the win and Brock Kelly scored 12 points.

The boys took on Marshall at home on January 15th. Wichser said, "Against Marshall we really had a difficult time defending their size and athleticism.  We knew how tough of an opponent they would be and they came out and showed why they've won their last 38 conference basketball games.  Early in the game I thought that they took some tougher shots that we wanted them to take but we couldn't grab the rebounds and they wound up getting second chance points off of those shots.  Offensively we struggled against their man-to-man pressure, both in the full court and half court.  We had some opportunities inside the paint that we weren't able to convert on in the first half, and against a team like Marshall you've got to take advantage of any opportunities that you have."

The half-time score was Marshall 33, Belleville 12.

Lynda Shrader

Lukas Diaz during the game against Marshall.

Wichser added, "Our boys came out and competed hard in the second half and I thought we matched their physicality better than we did in the first half.  Kevin Zimmerman came in off the bench and gave us a nice lift with five strong rebounds.  As a team we really need to understand how crucial it is to value the basketball.  That's still something that we're struggling to straighten out but our boys are great and they'll continue to work hard until they get it corrected."

The final score of the game was Marshall 66, Belleville 38. Drew Shrader led the Wildcats with 11 points; Daniel Meier and Brock Kelly both put 9 points on the board.

Brandon Neuberger scored 14 points for the Cardinals. Adam Wehking had 13 points and Andy Lutz scored 10 points.

On January 18th, the Wildcats went to Lodi and on the 21st they play Cambridge. They are 1-2 in the Capitol South and 4-6 overall.