Wildcats grab consolation title in tourney

The smallest team in the tournament proved they could hang with the bigger schools as the Waelder Wildcats came back from an opening-round setback to pick up two wins and claim the title Saturday in the Gonzales Runnin’ Apache Tournament.

The Wildcats, now 3-3, took Sealy by a 66-57 score in the consolation semifinals and then came back two hours later to ease past Moulton 42-39 to claim the consolation title.

The Pleasanton Eagles pulled away in the second half Thursday to whip the Waelder Wildcats 66-32 in opening-round action.

Cory Wilson poured in 21 points -- all of them on 3-point goals -- as the Wildcats held off Moulton’s Bobkats.

Leading 37-32 with 3:23 to play, a Wilson trey gave Waelder a 40-32 edge at the 2:12 mark before the Bobkatz closed to within a point on a baseline drive by Jared Morrison, a three-pointer from wade Zidek and a steal and layup by Bobby Bartos with 43 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats iced it when Dontrai Houston hit both ends of a one-and-one with 3.83 seconds left.

Houston, named to the all-tournament team, gunned in 26 points and also had 12 rebounds and eight assists as the Wildcats slammed the door on Sealy in the fourth quarter of the consolation semifinals.

Franky Carrillo scored 16 points and Wilson added 12 as the Wildcats out-scored the Tigers 15-6 in the final period to take the win.

In opening-round action, Pleasanton built a 28-18 halftime edge and pulled away in the second half thanks to numerous second-chance baskets while building a 40-28 advantage in rebounds. Waelder suffered from poor shooting and an uncharacteristic nine unforced turnovers.

The Eagles were led by a 32-point, 12-rebound effort from junior Angel Gaitan, while Garrett McDermott added 14 points, including four baskets from three-point range.

Leading the way for the Wildcats was Wilson with 14 points, while Houston had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Thursday's Game

PLEASANTON 66, WAELDER 32
PLEASANTON -- Teran 1 0-0 2, Harper 0 0-0 0, Guisar 0 0-0 0, Garcia 1 0-0 2, McDermott 4 2-2 14, Schuchart 4 0-0 9, Diamond 0 0-0 0, Cantu 1 0-0 2, Barrios 1 0-0 2, Gaitan 13 6-8 32, Kuenstler 2 0-0 4. Totals 27 8-10 66.
WAELDER -- Fonseca 0 0-0 0, Carrillo 2 0-0 4, Fields 1 0-0 2, Wilson 6 0-0 14, Bracamontes 0 0-0 0, Houston 4 1-2 9, Sirilo 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 1-2 32.
Pleasanton    13  15  21  17 --66
Waelder            8  10  13   7--32
Three-point goals: Pleasanton, McDermott 4, Schuchart; Waelder, Wilson 2, Sirilo. Rebounds: Pleasanton 40 (Gaitan 12, Schuchart 10), Waelder 28 (Houston 10, Carrillo 7.

Saturday's Games

Consolation Bracket
WAELDER 66, SEALY 57
SEALY -- Trahan 4 0-0 11, Hamner 2 2-3 7, Jones 8 0-1 16, Downey 3 0-0 6, Routt 1 0-0 2, Brown 0 1-2 1, Whitehead 0 0-0 0, McCallum 0 0-2 0, Barely 1 0-0 2, Barrett 1 0-0 3, Klepser 3 1-1 9, Richardson 0 0-2 0, Verm 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-11 57.
WAELDER -- Carrillo 7 1-1 16, Fields 1 2-4 4, Wilson 5 0-0 12, Houston 10 6-9 26, Sirilo 3 0-0 8. Totals 26 9-15 66.
Sealy        18  15  18   6--57
Waelder        15  16  20  15--66
Three-point goals: Sealy 7 (Trahan 3, Hamner, Barrett, Klepser 2), Waelder 5 (Carrillo, Wilson 2, Sirilo 2). Rebounds: Sealy 40 (Jones 9), Waelder 40 (Houston 12, Sirilo 6).

Consolation Finals
WAELDER 42, MOULTON 39
MOULTON -- Bartos 1 0-0 2, Novosad 3 0-2 7, Zidek 3 0-2 8, Neskora 5 0-0 10, Morrison 6 0-0 12. Totals 23 4-11 57.
WAELDER -- Carrillo 1 2-6 4, Wilson 7 0-1 21, Houston 4 3-5 12, Sirilo 2 0-0 5. Totals 14 5-12 42.
Moulton          9    7  10  13--39
Waelder        11  15    9  11--42
Three-point goals: Moulton 3 (Zidek 2, Novosad), Waelder 9 (Wilson 7, Houston, Sirilo).