Redemption for the Benjamin Russell Wildcats came with an assured victory Thursday night over the Wetumpka Indians.
From no look passes to passes from the knees, the Wildcats weren’t looking to be denied on their home floor in the 75-64 victory.
After falling behind early, the Wildcats began to surge. It just took three minutes for the program to wake up offensively and Wetumpka’s offense stuttered against the defense Jeremy Freeman’s squad employed.
Eventually, the Wildcats managed to get a lead and even relied on their ability to rebound to nab the 11-8 lead. Even a statement three from Jonathan Neloms at the end of the quarter put Benjamin Russell in a solid position early.
The Wildcats were in the driver’s seat when the second quarter got underway. Benjamin Russell led 16-10 but Wetumpka wasn’t out of the game yet.
The Indians picked up the pace as Benjamin Russell struggled with a slow starting offense once again. It was a problem the Wildcats had experienced over their past three games.
Wetumpka came back and tied the game up at 22-22 but Benjamin Russell found their footing again to break the tie. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Wildcats were up 32-30. However, the game was far from over.
The Indians scored first in the third quarter but Chris Foster, who only had nine points at the time, exploded offensively. Foster drained 10 points and facilitated the offense through his speed. Seven of the Wildcats’ 20 points in the quarter came from Foster first.
As he began to heat up, the defense followed suit as Wetumpka began to flirt with a double-digit hole.
The Indians however weren’t going to give the game up easily. The deficit closed to 45-40 but Foster kept his squad ahead getting passes to his teammates effectively, even from the knees to Qua Smith.
The fourth quarter lead for Benjamin Russell was 52-44, a 12-point gap.
Things fluctuated quite a bit throughout the quarter and with more than four minutes remaining in the game, Wetumpka was knocking on the lead once again.
The Indians dropped their deficit to 60-53 until Freeman called timeout and became animated in the huddle. However, the Wildcats matched every shot as Foster, Malcolm Simmons, Corey Millner, Neoloms, Smith and even Zy Owens pounded down a combined 23 points.
At the end of it all, BRHS came away with a 75-64 victory. With the win, the Wildcats claimed a 2-1 record, Wetumpka dropped to 2-1.
Saturday, the Indians play against Stanhope Elmore and a win by the Mustangs could put a different spin on the area standings as well.
Foster finished the night with 25 points, Simmons had 16, Neoloms picked up 11 while Smith knocked down another 10. Steven Robinson knocked down 13 points in the game for Wetumpka. Lacorey Marshall had 12 in the end while Robert Rose III drained 11 in the loss.
