TOPEKA – Whitko was used to putting the ball in the basket on a regular basis, but had trouble doing that early Friday night, and a ferocious late rally came up short as the Wildcats saw their season end with a 50-46 loss to Westview in Class 2A Sectional 37 semifinal action. After falling into a 19-4 hole in the game’s first six minutes and trailing 21-9 at halftime thanks to 4-of-21 shooting from the floor (Westview was 10-of-20 in the opening half), the Wildcats came roaring back late in the contest. Whitko trailed 33-19 midway through the third quarter, only to be down 43-41 after a three-pointer by senior Devin Adkins with 1:03 to play. Westview was able to hold on and end the Cats’ season at 14-10, the second season under coach Roger Fleetwood. “We gave ourselves a chance,” Fleetwood said. “We were one possession away two or three times in the last quarter. We just didn’t execute. We were supposed to foul a certain guy and we didn’t. When you’re in a close game in the sectional, you can’t make those kinds of mistakes. “We needed one more stop and one more offensive play.” It was tenacity that kept the Wildcats from getting buried and gave them a chance at the end. “I was really proud of how hard we played to get back in the game,” Fleetwood said. “We just started horribly offensively, about as bad as we started all year. We couldn’t get any rhythm. No one could make a shot. “Our defense actually kept us in the game. Without that, they would have beat us by 30.” Freshman Elijah Hales netted 14 points (eight in the second half), senior Andrew Yoder 12 (10 in the second half) and freshman Josh Hosteler nine (four in the fourth quarter) to pace the Westview attack. Fleetwood took exception with the way the tournament was drawn with Westview drawing into the semifinals in the seven-team field. Whitko beat Bremen in the first round to advance to Friday’s contest. “What’s wrong with the IHSAA? You get to have home court and a bye?,” Fleetwood said. “That’s a heck of a deal. There ought to be a rule that if you have home court, you can’t get a bye. We played Wednesday night awfully hard and (Westview was) fresh. That little freshness may have been enough of a difference. “(Westview has) had great success (as a program). They know how to win and they expect to win. You have to overcome that and their home-court advantage.” It was a strong defensive effort that got Westview off to its quick start. “Our defense played good tonight against a good offensive team,” Warriors coach Rob Yoder said after his team earned a berth in the sectional championship game against Prairie Heights (a 37-35 winner against Central Noble in Friday’s other semifinal) at 7 p.m. tonight. “We made it difficult for them to score. They scored the ball better in the second half, but they were well below their average (64.8 coming into the game).” Sophomore River West canned four three-pointers and led Whitko with 17 points (15 in the second half). Junior Nate Walpole tallied seven of his 13 in the fourth quarter. One of his three-pointers from the right wing danced on the rim and fell pulling the Wildcats to within 39-33 with 3:31 to go. Fleetwood reflected on where the Wildcats have come in the past few seasons. “Two years, 12 guys came out at Whitko,” Fleetwood said. “They won one varsity game and one JV game. Last year, we won six varsity games. This year, we won 14 varsity games. These guys have really worked hard in the offseason to be the best they can be. We wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as we are now if we hadn’t spent the time between March and November. That’s really when we got better. “They bought in. I’ve coached 44 years and I’ve never had a team that tried harder to do what we asked them to do. (Players) 1 through 12, these are really good kids who worked really hard. They kind of deserved to win a sectional. “This team did all the things – on and off the floor – you’re supposed to be doing in high school athletics. Sometimes that’s not enough.”
