Wildcats remain undefeated with home blowout win
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The Sulphur Springs Wildcats hosted the Henderson Lions Saturday, for just their second home game of the young season. The Wildcats entered the day with a 4-0 record to start the year, as they looked to pick up their fifth consecutive win to open the new campaign.
Sulphur Springs started the game with a ton of momentum, wasting no time at all building their quick lead. Junior Branson Lynn led the attack early, scoring on three consecutive fast breaks, to help the Wildcats get out to a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes.
Later in the quarter Lynn continued to help find ways to score, this time by dishing it out to others. Lynn got a screen from big men Justin Haire and Kordrick Turner and drove to the basket, Henderson was forced to leave Cason Arrington open in the corner and Lynn found Arrington, who knocked down the open three-pointer to take a 17-7 lead.
Towards the end of the frame it was Parker Whisenhunt who came up with a huge momentum play to keep the energy on Sulphur Springs’ side. Whisenhunt threw down a big two-hand slam in transition, as the Wildcats led 21-8 to end the first quarter.
The Wildcats kept the high energy offense going to open the second frame and this time it was Caleb Alexander who made the highlight play. The Henderson defense sagged off Alexander long enough for him to get a deep 3-pointer off, draining the shot to go ahead 34-21. Arrington followed with a huge 3-pointer of his own, getting the Wildcats crowd off their feet.
With time winding down in the half, the Wildcats wanted one more big play to take all of the momentum on their side entering the second half. The Lions missed their final shot of the half with seven seconds left on the clock and Sulphur Springs immediately went to work.
Turner came down with the rebound, advancing the ball to Alexander at half court. Alexander received the pass, checked the clock and saw how much time he had. Alexander drove the lane and got his layup off just before the buzzer, making the layup as time expired and giving the crowd a ton to be excited about.
Despite leading 41-23 to start the second half, the Wildcats never took their foot off the gas, opening the third quarter with a ton of energy. Sulphur Springs continued to play strong on both sides of the ball and quickly extended their lead to 30 points.
Alexander continued his scoring late into the game, draining a corner 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead 71-37 in the fourth quarter. Sulphur Springs finished the game with their bench unit, as they cruised to an easy 73-43 home victory.
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Part of their blowout win came on behalf of turnovers, as the Wildcats won the turnover battle 12-5. The Wildcats also shot 46% from the field, while holding Henderson to just a 39% shooting performance as a team.
Turner led the way for Sulphur Springs, finishing with 20 points, 12 of which came during the second half. Turner regularly commanded double teams from the Lions and scored a number of baskets while drawing contact.
“They do that every game, with the double teams,” Turner said during his post game interview. “I just do what coach says, stay patient and then make a move and finish strong.”
Lynn was the next leading scorer for the Wildcats, thanks in large part to his eight first quarter points. He ended the game with 11 points on the night. Lynn also did a great job running the offense for Sulphur Springs, knowing when to speed things up and also knowing when to slow things down.
“Coach always tells us, if they have numbers on us then slow it down and bring it out and that’s just how we play,” Lynn said. “If we can push it up then we’ll score in transition but if we can’t we pull it out.”
Alexander also helped run the offense for the Wildcats and made a big contribution on the scoreboard. Alexander ended up with 10 points, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers along the way.
Haire, Arrington and Malachi Myles all had eight points for the Wildcats. Whisenhunt had four points, while Korderrion Turner had three points and Jackson Darrow had one point.
“I think it went well,” head coach Brandon Shaver said, referring to playing at home for just the second time this season. “We didn’t force anything, I think we missed our inside shots in the first half, so it was a little bit different from what we’re used to but I think we played with the pace that we wanted to play and we got the shots that we wanted, so I think it turned out pretty good for us.”
To see our extended postgame interviews with Myles, Turner, Lynn and Shaver click here:
The win improves the Wildcats record to 5-0 to open the year, as they’ve won each game by double-digits. So far Sulphur Springs has scored 295 points, while only allowing their opponents to score 173 points.
They will return to action Tuesday, with yet another home game. This time they will host the Rockwall Yellowjackets who are off to a 2-3 start. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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