JV ‘Cats win Licking Boys JV Tournament

By Editor | February 8, 2023 |

Photo by Shari Harris
Licking JV Wildcats won the 2023 Licking Boys JV Tournament. From left, kneeling, J.D. Fox, Kannon Buckner, Karsen Walker, Josh Wade, Kohen Blankenship and Kolten Sullins; standing, Coach Chris Harris, Lake Wade, Kale Cook, Jordan Ritz, Benton Corley, Nate Gambill and Brently Morris.

The Licking Junior Varsity Wildcats defeated Salem on Wednesday, February 1, to advance to the semifinal game of the Licking Boys JV Tournament Saturday.

In Saturday’s first contest for the Wildcats, they took on the St. James Tigers and came out victorious, 59-44, to move on to the championship game against Waynesville.

Lake Wade led the scoring with 16, Jordan Ritz had 11, and Brently Morris and Nate Gambill each had 8.

First seed Waynesville was seeking to repeat as champions of the Licking JV Tournament, but the Licking Wildcats played spoiler and a solid defense allowed a 69-39 win over the Tigers.

Karsen Walker led the scoring with 15 points, Jordan Ritz had 14, Lake Wade had 12, and Brently Morris and Kale Cook each had 11.

“In the championship game, we faced a very quick Waynesville team. It took us a little while to get going on the offensive side of the ball but we played great team defense for the entire game. In the second half, the offense really got going as we scored 44 points in the half. Our defense stayed solid as Waynesville only managed 18 points. I was told that this was the first time in 10 years that someone other than Waynesville had won the JV tournament.”

The JV ‘Cats record moved to 16-2 with four games remaining.

Friday night, Feb. 3, the JV ‘Cats beat Dixon, 59-40, keeping them undefeated in the conference with a record of 6-0.

Nate Gambill led the team in scoring with 21 points, on 7 of 8 shooting, all from the three-point line. Lake Wade added 13 points to the winning effort.