The Milan Wildcats entered 2020 off of a rarity for the boys basketball program, a loss. On Friday, December 27th, the ‘Cats fell to the Plattsburg Tigers at Holiday Hoops in Trenton, leaving Milan’s squad simmering on that loss for a week as games with unbeaten Mercer and always tough Macon approached.
Playing on their home floor in back-to-back nights, the Wildcats steamed back into the win column, in a pair of games that had running fourth quarter clock. On Thursday night against Mercer, Milan took a 65-40 win, behind a balanced scoring effort. Hunter Shaw had 18 points, Dominic Dabney 14, Ryan Dabney 12, and Dre Morehead 10. Mercer had 13 points from Cam Hartley and 12 from Kaden Graham.
The result left the Wildcats at 9-1, with Mercer falling to 8-1. In Thursday night’s opener from “The Den”, the Lady ‘Cats fell behind 20-11 after one quarter, but, while slowing down Mercer sophomore Tori Meinecke on the offensive end, the Milan duo of Cady Pauley and Jordyn Gray surged on the other, with Milan dominating the final quarter in a 56-41 win. Pauley led Milan with 30 points, with Gray adding 24, while Meinecke add 27 points in a solid all-around effort for Mercer, with Aubrey Wilson scoring 10.
The Milan girls are now 6-4, with the Lady Cardinals falling to 5-5.
On Friday night, in action once again broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3, the Wildcats split contests with the visitors from Macon. In the opener, a strong Tigerette team was too much for Milan, as Macon got the 69-49 victory. Lexi Miller led the Tigerettes with 27 points, with Kate Hawkins scoring 14, and Katie Richardson 13. Pauley had a game-high 35 points for the Lady ‘Cats. Macon’s win improved the CCC squad to 6-4 on the season.
The Milan boys rode a superlative effort from senior Hunter Shaw in a 75-44 win over Macon. Shaw had 30 points for the Wildcats, in the teams’ 10th victory of the year. Dominic Dabney had 18 points and Ryan Dabney 10 for the ‘Cats, while Macon, slipping to 2-7, was paced by 12 points from Hayden Lovingier.
The Milan girls and boys will next be in action on Friday, January 10th, playing at Putnam County, with Dennis Stephenson providing the play-by-play call on KTTN FM 92.3, with the girls game at 6, followed by the boys contest. The Milan boys are tied with Princeton and South Harrison for first place in the Grand River Conference’s Eastern Division, with home wins over Polo and Maysville in mid-December. The Lady ‘Cats are also in a tie for first place (with Trenton) after defeating the same two schools to open conference play.
