JV Wildcats rolling in preseason win Kennedale Tourney

The Kennedale JV had a good holiday break to kick start the new year. At 16-1, the JV Cats are the hottest team going. {{more}}

Top KHS tournament scorers Chris Saulsby (53pts) and Bryce Hackett (47pts) Photo Staci Otts

During the holidays, Kennedale hosted their annual JV/Freshman Area Tournament including Everman, Midlothian, Brewer and Joshua ? teams the JV Cats defeated on their way to the championship. The JV Cats followed that up with a big win over Mabank last Saturday.

Kennedale’s JV started tournament play with 5A Joshua, winning that game 63-28. The game was never in doubt with the JV Cats leading 18-10 after the first and 27-16 at the half. The Cats came up big in the 3rd when they went on a 22-3 run. The next day the Cats took on the JV from 5A Brewer HS from White Settlement. Kennedale started off with a big 1st quarter outscoring Brewer 23-7. Brewer tried to make a game of it in the 2nd but too little too late. The Cats took a 43-23 lead into halftime. The JV Cats went on to win 72-48.

JV Cats in overtime win against Everman Photo Staci Otts

On the final day of play, the JV Cats faced Midlothian in the semifinal game. In this game the Cats had to battle to take the first quarter 15-11 but it was off to the races from that point. The Cats outscored the Panthers 18-7 in the 2nd, 14 to 4 in the third and 13-9 on the way to a 87-31. Two players tied for top scores, Bryce Hackett and Chris Saulsby with 14 each.

Scoring big in tournament play (top-bottom) Trey Jones (40), Tai Davis (29), Devan Stapleton (26) and Dylan Barber (19) Photo Staci Otts

In one of the best games of the tournament, Kennedale faced off against the 5A Everman Bulldogs for the tournament championship. Kennedale was behind in this game from the beginning. The Bulldogs had won the 1st quarter 13-9 and the 2nd 14-9, giving them a solid lead at half at 27-18. Chris Saulsby for the Cats kept Kennedale in the game by scoring 11 of Kennedale?s 18 points.

 

But after halftime, Everman went cold and Kennedale got hot. Kennedale out shot Everman, 18-10, in the 3rd to pull within one, at 37-36. Swapping the lead during the 4th, the game ended in a tie at 51.

 

In overtime, despite shooting only 3 of 11 from the foul line, the Cats were able to put up 8 points and stopped the Bulldogs cold to win the game 59-51. Five of the final eight points came from Bryce Hackett. Hackett ended the game as top scorer with 17 points followed closely by Saulsby with 16.

For the tournament, Chris Saulsby led all the Cats with 53 points followed by Bryce Hackett with 47, Trey Jones 40, Tai Davis 29, Devan Stapleton 26, Dylan Barber 19, Godfrey Agogo 13, DeShawn Weeks 9, Darious McGlothin 7, Peer Szczepariak 7 and C J Johnson 1.

Then a week ago Saturday, the JV Cats notch another win by beating Mabank 69-32. With the Cats dominating throughout the game, Bryce Hackett with 12 points (all 3?s) shared the scoring title with Tai Davis. Trey Jones was not far behind with 9 points. Finishing out the scoring was Javon Williams 7, Peer Szczepariak 4, Steven Jerrick 4, Devan Stapleton 3, Dylan Barber 3, Darious McGlothin 2, Godfrey Agogo and Travis Dickey 1.