After the boys basketball team’s two game win in their recent Maumelle tournament, the Wildcats are ready to take on this year’s 6A conference. The first game finished with a score of 82-75 against Maumelle, followed by a 71-67 point game against Bryant. Junior Hayden Wood thought the overall tournament was a good way to showcase the other teams their talent.
“My overall opinion of the tournament was that there were a lot of talented teams,” said Wood. “ So it was a good way to show our talent with our new players that we have.”
Junior Courtland Muldrew felt excited going into the tournament even though he felt heavy pressure on his shoulders. The pressure didn’t stop him as he was averaging 30 points and 4 to 5 assists per game. He also ended the tournament with MVP Honors and an offer from Ole Miss.
“I knew I was gonna have a lot of pressure on me during those first two games, but after it was cool.” Muldrew said, ¨I picked up an offer from Ole Miss, so I think I’m pretty good.¨
According to Muldrew, he was expecting nothing but to win and that is exactly what they did. Head coach Tommy Deffebaugh was very glad to have beat both Bryant and Maumelle especially on their home court.
¨Beating both of those teams and beating Maumelle on their home court the first night was a huge statement win for our team.¨ Deffebaugh said, ¨I really don’t think anyone expected that.¨
Deffenbaugh´s goal for the tournament was to go out there and show everyone what the Wildcats had been working on in practice everyday.
According to junior Jaxon Conley, he feels this tournament was an awesome opportunity to bond with his teammates and coaches. After they were losing to Bryant at the beginning, it was their bond that helped them come together and turn the game around.
¨ I feel like it really brought us together and improved our communication,¨ Conley said, ¨When we were down to Bryant, we didn’t give up on each other and we pulled out a win.”