The Milan Wildcats jumped out to a pair of big first-quarter leads, and led from tip to buzzer in sweeping a Monday night varsity basketball doubleheader at Novinger High School, broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.
The Lady ‘Cats, using a style of play predicated on full-court, pressure defense, utilizing their speed, blitzed Novinger in the first quarter, leading 24-5 after eight minutes of play, with Milan taking the 66-39 win. Evelyn Castro and Genesis Sarabia both had 17 points for the Lady ‘Cats, with Head Coach Nathan Simler praising Sarabia’s strong front-court play as a key in Milan’s victory:
Senior guard Adrienne Weaver added 8 points, with Courtney McCollum and Katlynn Sylvester both contributing six points in the win. Novinger, falling to 0-2 on the early season, had 13 points from Kendra Frederick, with Lexi Baird adding seven.
The Milan girls next play in the Novinger Tournament, as the 6th seeded Lady ‘Cats play Brashear on Monday evening at 6:40. Novinger, a 7 seed, will take on Green City on Monday afternoon at 4.
The Milan boys, despite their youth, appear to be an early contender for the Grand River Conference East title, and the Wildcats showed the talent necessary to compete at that lofty level on Monday night, riding a game-high 23 points from sophomore Hunter Shaw, and 18 bench points from freshman Dominic Dabney, to a 77-55 road win at Novinger.
The visiting Wildcats led 22-6 after one quarter of play, 40-18 at the half, and 56-29 after three quarters. Jamuel Pagan had eight points (all in the fourth quarter) for Milan, with Ryan Dabney adding seven, and Kaden Watkins six points.
Wary of the attention the Wildcats are getting, Coach Andrea Dabney is warning her team to keep working hard, and not rely as much on their athleticism to continue their improvement:
While more removed from football season than the likes of Worth County and East Buchanan, both who play on Tuesday just 72 hours after ending their gridiron season, Dabney admits it is a big November challenge to get basketball teams to shift gears from the football season:
Novinger, in falling to 1-1, had 20 points from Zane Roberts and 10 from Caden Smith. Logan Tade and Koby Linder both had nine points. The Milan boys, seeded #3 in the Milan Tournament, will take on Atlanta next Monday afternoon at 5:20, with Novinger meeting #5 seed Green City on Tuesday night, November 28th at 8 o’clock.
