District Four Tourney held; Lady Wildcats advance to Regionals

The completion of the regular basketball season brought about District Four Tournament play for the Fleming Wildcats and the Fleming Lady Wildcats last week. The boys, who entered in the number four spot, opened District play with a Tuesday contest against Weldon Valley. The Lady Wildcats, who entered as the second ranked girls' team, earned a first-round bye in Tuesday's play.

Opening round action brought Weldon Valley to the court to face off with the Fleming Wildcats. The Weldon Valley warriors entered in the number five slot, just behind the Wildcats. The two teams faced off in the regular season with Fleming taking an eight-point victory on their own home court.

Tuesday's second meeting between the two teams started off with Weldon Valley on top by one after the first quarter, 9-8. Fleming found their groove in the second when the offense added 13 points to advance to 21 total and the defense shut Weldon Valley down to just five. The score at halftime read 21-14, Fleming.

After returning from intermission, the Wildcats continued to dominate. They outscored the Warriors by four points in the third quarter to bring the score to 33-22. Both teams' offenses added 15 in the final quarter, leaving the Wildcats ahead at the final horn, 48-37.

The win over Weldon Valley on Tuesday allowed the Wildcats to advance into the semifinal round on Thursday against the number-one ranked Peetz Bulldogs.

Fleming and Peetz also met up in the regular season. Peetz took a win in that outing, 72-43.

On Thursday, the Wildcats kept pace with the Bulldogs in the opening half. They were down by seven after the first quarter, 12-5, but brought the score within three points near the end of the second quarter. A buzzer-beating three-pointer put the Bulldogs up by six at the close of the half, 21-15.

Peetz took control of the game after halftime. Their offense added nearly 30 points in the third quarter while the defense shut Fleming down to just eight. The top-ranked team advanced their lead by another five points in the final quarter and went on to take a 64-32 victory over the Wildcats.

Individual stats for neither game were reported as of press time.

The semifinal district loss ended the Wildcats' season. They finished the year at 5-16 overall.

The Lady Wildcats opened district play on Thursday after earning a first round bye as the second ranked team. Their first game put them on the floor against third-ranked Prairie to determine who would advance to the championship on Saturday.

The Lady Wildcats and the Lady Mustangs met up during the regular season in mid-January on Prairie's home court. That game went in favor of the Lady Wildcats with a narrow two-point, 37-35.

On Thursday, Fleming found themselves up by two points after the first quarter, 7-5. Prairie answered back, taking the lead in the second quarter after outscoring Fleming by three. The Lady Mustangs were out in front by one point at halftime, 19-18.

The two teams battled for the lead for remainder of the game. Fleming's third quarter tally bested Prairie's by one point, making it a tie game at 31-all.

Despite leading at times throughout the fourth quarter, when the final horn sounded it was Prairie who was out in front. The Mustangs upset the Wildcats in a hard-fought game 43-41.

Individual stats for the girls' contest were not available as of press time.

Rankings coupled with their ratings percentage index have allowed the Lady Wildcats to advance to Regional play. Currently at 10-9, the Lady Wildcats have moved into the Regional bracket as the 12th seed.

They are set to take on the Granada Bobcats on Friday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Idalia High School. The hosting a Idalia Lady Wolves, who enter as the fifth seed in the bracket, are scheduled to take on Kim/Branson on Friday at 4 p.m. The winners of those two contests are set to advance to play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 at a Idalia High School. The winner of that contest will advance to State the next week.