Opening round win over Weldon Valley keeps Wildcats' season alive

The fourth-ranked Fleming Wildcats rose to the occasion in Tuesday's opening round of District play in effort to keep their season alive. The team took a post-season victory over fifth seeded Weldon Valley, 48-37, to advance semifinals.

The two teams met in the regular season with Fleming taking a narrow, two-point win over the Warriors.

The Warriors led after the first quarter by a single point, but the Wildcats took the lead in the second quarter going up 21-14. Fleming maintained their lead throughout the remainder of the game and advanced to 5-15 on the year with the win.

Regular season action closed last week with Thursday/Friday losses to Sedgwick County and Idalia.

Fleming traveled to the home of the Sedgwick County Cougars on Thursday night where they suffered a 59-38 loss.

Two Wildcats hit double digits on the scoreboard that night. Senior David Betley led with 12 points; he also led the team in rebounds with six total.

Junior Travis Johnson followed with 10 points in the contest.

On Friday night, the Wildcats hosted the Idalia Wolves for the regular-season closer. Idalia jumped to an early 11-point lead over the home team in the first. Halftime saw Idalia up by 13 points.

The visiting team would go on to expand their lead by another 15 points in the second half and the Wolves would down the home team 63-35.

Betley and Johnson again topped the scoreboard. Betley tallied 11 points and six rebounds. Johnson scored eight points with four rebounds. Freshman Treyson Kirkwood contributed six points off two, three-point shots.

Senior Will Bornhoft led under the net in boards. He brought down seven; all of those defensive rebounds.

Stats for Tuesday's opening round of District play had not been compiled as of press time. The win does allow the Wildcats to move into the semifinal round where they will face-off with top ranked Peetz. That game is scheduled for Thursday, February 22 at 5:30 p.m. at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.