Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Multimedia: Wildcats remain hot, improve to 14-1 on season

Wilsonville holds off Liberty in second half to win seventh straight game

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 1/16/2010 1:12:24 AM
• Last Updated: 1/20/2010 2:45:59 PM

Photo By: Courtesy Eddie KirkpatrickBoys basketball: Wilsonville 76, Liberty 60
Michael MacKelvie

(Click photo for photo gallery)

There was a lot to be encouraged about after the Wilsonville boys basketball team’s 76-60 victory over Liberty on Friday.

The scary thing is the No. 2 Wildcats don’t believe they are playing their best, but yet they are getting everybody’s best shot and have won every conference game so far by an average of 17.8 points.

The players know they are being the hunted in the Northwest Oregon Conference, and are embracing it.

“We’re handling it pretty good,” sophomore Kevin Marshall said. “We just need to use a lot of our depth, which is helpful. We have a lot of guys that are stepping up and they can play. … We’re just going to go out like (we do against) every team. They’re going to always come out and play their best. We just got to come back and take it against them.”

Marshall did that on Friday, as part of four Wildcats in double figures with 16 points. Senior Michael MacKelvie had a team-high 20 and junior Seth Gearhart added 17.

Junior Jalen James also had an impressive game off the bench, providing a spark in the second quarter and finished with 10 points.

“Jalen James also was excellent,” coach Chris Roche said. “I think he gave us a real lift (on Friday). He’s capable, too. He’s athletic.”

Even so, the Wildcats found themselves in a dogfight as Liberty quickly cut an eight-point halftime deficit to 31-29 with 6:45 left in the third off two consecutive three-pointers.

But that was as close as the Falcons got in the second half as Wilsonville extended its lead to 47-37 entering the fourth.

“We just weren’t taking care of the ball,” Marshall said of the first half. “We were just throwing lazy passes and in the second half, we just decided let’s be strong with it and make better decisions. We tried to get the game in our tempo and just tried to control the game our way.”

Wilsonville held off Liberty for much of the fourth quarter, leading by double digits throughout and by as many as 18 points.

“We did enough strong things to win a game,” Roche said. ‘And hopefully next time we play them, we’ll handle (their defensive pressure) a lot better. It’s not an easy thing to handle and to their credit, they have a lot of good athletes.”

The Wildcats shot 32 of 47 from the field (68.1 percent), while Liberty was 21 of 54 (38.9 percent).

The Falcons were led by senior Antonio Santollo, who scored a game-high 25 points.

Wilsonville (14-1 overall, 4-0 NWOC) sits in a tie with Sherwood (9-3, 4-0) for first place in the conference entering this week.

With opponents looking to knock the Wildcats off and end their seven-game win streak, Roche said that is simply something they have to handle, which they experienced last season when they went 26-2.

“There’s some of that but that’s going to be the way it is so we’re going to have to adapt to that,” Roche said. “And meet and exceed other people’s energy because it’s definitely there.”

This week, the Wildcats travel to play Parkrose on Tuesday and go to Hillsboro on Friday. Game times are 7:15 p.m.

Wilsonville 62, Century 44: In a rematch of last season’s Class 5A state semifinal game, the Wildcats got a small bit of revenge with a 62-44 victory over the Jaguars on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

MacKelvie led with a game-high 19 points, and junior Michael Etzel added 11 points.

The Wildcats led 18-16 after the first quarter, and took a 35-25 halftime lead. Wilsonville extended its lead to 49-33 entering the fourth.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Liberty Falcons	15	8	14	23	60
Wilsonville Wildcats	16	15	15	29	76

Liberty - Antonio Santollo 25, Jocifek 7, Gregory 6, AJ Anderson 5, Rivers 4, Sollman 4, Schneider 3, Hossner 2, D. Anderson 2, Steindorf 2, Jenkins, Grier
Wilsonville - Michael MacKelvie 20, Seth Gearhart 17, Kevin Marshall 16, Jalen James 10, Etzel 6, Koford 4, Schwarzer 2, Conroy 1, McNiel, Livesay, Munson, Haqq, Shelton

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Century Jaguars	16	9	8	11	24
Wilsonville Wildcats	18	17	14	13	62

Century - Bobby Rollinger 12, Blosl 11, Alexander 6, Miller 6, Koberstein 5, Brock 4, Minnis, Buckley, Olsen, Gower.
Wilsonville - Michael MacKelvie 19, Etzel 11, Gearhart 10, Koford 7, Marshall 7, Schwarzer 3, McNiel 2, Livesay 2, Conroy 1, Munson, Haqq, Shelton

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