Cats drop tourney, look to rebound

For the first time in three years, the Winter Park Rotary Tournament does not belong to the Wildcats. After a tough overtime loss to Spruce Creek, they fell to Lake Brantley to end the tournament in the consolation round.

That’s a quick turnaround for the Wildcats, who hadn’t lost a game since Jan. 22, 12 games before the end of last season.

The loss to Spruce Creek (2-3) was especially painful for the Wildcats (1-2), who at one point were down by 10 points in the fourth quarter before a shot in the final seconds sent the game into overtime. But from there the Hawks edged away from the Wildcats, winning 57-52.

Against a strong Lake Brantley (6-2) team, the Wildcats had a lot more trouble finding the basket, falling 61-43 on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Now the Wildcats roar into the middle of December with a two-game losing streak but a chance at redemption on a long road trip. That started at press time at Cypress Creek, but will wind its way closer to home at Colonial at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9. The Grenadiers (2-3) edged out Freedom 59-56 on Monday, Dec. 5.

After that the Wildcats will head over to Oviedo (4-2) for a 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, showdown at the Hoops with a Heart tournament. Oviedo also lost to Lake Brantley in the last week by a nearly identical score as the Wildcats. Then the Cats will continue their whirlwind tour at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Oak Ridge (2-1). The Pioneers recently lost to Jones 58-52.

Edgewater

After an early season loss to basketball powerhouse Father Lopez, the Eagles have rolled to four straight wins in the last week.

They rebounded in a hurry against Deltona after their season-opening loss, smashing them 57-19 on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The next few games were a series of nail-biters for Edgewater, which narrowly edged Freedom 65-62 on Wednesday, Nov. 30, and beat Cypress Creek by the same margin on Friday, Dec. 2. After rolling over Ocoee on Monday, Dec. 5, the Eagles played Mainland at press time.

They’ll return to the court at winless Seabreeze at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. They’ll return home at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, for a showdown against Evans.