Wildcats rip Sulphur Springs

Photo/Jim Jackson High-flying Kyle Ford goes for two of his 17 points against Sulphur Springs.

The Whitehouse Wildcats improved to 10-1 with a pair of victories over solid class AAAA foes Sulphur Springs 73-40, and then travelled to Midlothian to claim a 63-38 win.

The wins by the Wildcats, currently ranked #8 in the latest TABC poll for class AAAA schools, now opens district play as they travel to Jacksonville on Friday, Dec. 21 to take on a talented Jacksonville Indian squad.

Whitehouse opened the week by taking on Sulphur Springs in the friendly confines of Wildcat Arena. The Cats have not lost in Wildcat Arena for the past three seasons and have established a home win streak of 24 games dating back to the 2004-2005 season.

Sulphur Springs entered the contest at 8-0, after just having claimed the championship of the Wills Point Tourney the previous weekend.

WHS jumped out to a 23-10 first quarter lead behind the inside play of 6'6 senior Cade Clark, and 6'8 junior Jacob Holmen, each who tallied 6 points in the first frame. Holmen scored 6 more in the second, while tallying 8 in the third to score a game high 20 on the night before receiving a much deserved rest in the fourth quarter.

Kyle Ford tossed in 17 for the night including two long-range tri-fectas, while Clark chipped in 18.

Junior point guard Mitch Marquis tallied 9 assists to equal his per game average.

"When you have someone like Mitch who makes it all go with his abilities as a point guard to penetrate and pass, then you give him people like Jacob, Cade and Kyle to finish, it makes it hard to defend," said head coach Wally Dawkins.

"Then we still have people like Tanner Fedell, Kody Molloy, Blake Anglin and Bart Henderson who can all score.

Dawkins credits Anglin's play as one of the keys to the Cats success.

"After watching a lot of film, I realized we were getting more positive minutes from the group on the floor when Blake is in the game. His defense, guard savvy, and just plain hustle really creates a better flow out there," said Dawkins.

The Cats then made a long trip to Midlothian to play in what Dawkins called a "playoff atmosphere."

"When I saw they had an open date, and I had already heard they had built a brand new gym, and that it was like a college gym," he said. "We want to play in big places, and since we will have to beat Dallas schools to go to state, it was a good fit for this team. This also gave us a chance to play using the Dallas Chapter officials who do a lot of playoff games."

The Wildcats led by 10 after three quarters behind a balanced scoring attack led by Kyle Ford (12), Cade Clark (11), Kody Molloy and Bart Henderson (10 each), Jacob Holmen (9), and Mitch Marquis (7).

WHS outscored their hosts 20-7 in the fourth period to ease into a 25-point victory.

"Midlothian has a good team. I think our depth just wore them down in the second half," said Dawkins. "We have 8-10 kids who can play depending on situations, and as a team we really jelled in the second half. We are still not even close to our potential, but I am starting to see some good signs"

Whitehouse now opens district 12-AAAA play, and will also play in the TJC Tournament Dec. 27-29.