The Milan boys are widely expected to have one of the top teams in Class 2 this season, with a 30-3 blitzing of Novinger on Monday night getting the Wildcats season off in a strong direction. Perhaps more unexpectedly, the Milan girls appear to have the potential of being one of the most improved teams in the area through the first night of action.
On Monday night, in a varsity doubleheader broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3 from the Den, the Milan girls and boys claimed decisive victories against Novinger, sending the Wildcats to the Schuyler County Tournament next week with identical 1-0 records.
The Lady ‘Cats used an up-tempo, pressing style of defense, speeding up Novinger into multiple turnovers, leading to numerous Milan lay-ups, in a 84-41 season-opening win for Milan. Jordan Gray paced MHS with 18 points, with freshman Cady Pauley adding 16. Tahlie Gray and Courtney McCollum both contributed 15 points in the win, while Seynabou Niasse had 12 points. Novinger’s leading scorer was Kendra Frederick, with 12.
For the Milan boys, Monday night was a case of starting strong out of the gates, but with the game seemingly decided after the 30-3 first quarter edge, taking their “foot off the gas”, as Novinger outscored the host Wildcats 45-36 over the final three quarters. Milan never had its lead seriously threatened however, in a season-opening 66-48 win.
Nine Milan players scored, with Hunter Shaw and Eddie Gonzalez both tallying 13 points, with Quinn Doak adding 10 (all in the first half). Novinger had 13 points from Chris Sandstrom and 11 from Caden Smith.
Novinger’s girls will play #2 seed Green City in the quarterfinals of the Novinger Tournament on Tuesday, November 27th at 4 o’clock, with the Novinger boys playing Grundy R-5 on Tuesday night, November 27th at 8 o’clock in the Novinger Tourney quarterfinal round.
Here is the area scoreboard for Monday, November 19, 2018
GIRLS:
Grundy County 42, Linn County 34 (Jandie Peterson – 11 for Grundy)
Tina-Avalon 49, Braymer 33 (Hannah Colliver – 17 for T-A, Jasmine Taylor 16 for Braymer)
Mercer 65, Hale 35
Newtown-Harris 35, Breckenridge 32 (OT)
Lathrop 37, Bishop LeBlond 30
Plattsburg 63, Lexington 50
Trenton JV 38, Cameron JV 32 (Chandler Lynch 18 for Trenton)
BOYS:
Linn County 92, Grundy County 49 (Caden Gann 17, Cooper Lewis 15 for Grundy)
Mercer 57, Hale 34
Newtown-Harris 52, Breckenridge 14
Braymer 55, Tina-Avalon 46
Bishop LeBlond 40, West Platte 37
Lawson 41, Richmond 39
Cameron JV 34, Trenton JV 27 (Brycin Loyd 12 for Trenton)
