Winter Park Wildcats place 4th in tournament

The Winter Park Wildcats started the Winter Park Rotary Tournament with a bang Nov. 29, but they ended it with a blowout loss.

The boys would dominate the court in their first game against Lake Brantley in the first round, winning 59-42 thanks to double digit scoring by Jay Wimbley, Dewey Johnson and Kyle Brown. Wimbley had a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The crowd and the team were both cheering as the clock expired.

But after that, things turned ominous for the Wildcats, as they watched Lake Highland pull out a 20-10 lead by the end of the first quarter of their second round matchup, then continue to accelerate ahead. Wimbley put up 17 points again, while Elijah Farley chipped in 14 of his own, but it wasn't enough, as the Wildcats fell 88-61.

Looking for a reversal in momentum, the Wildcats faced Orlando Christian Prep in the third place consolation game. They came out with a humbling defeat, 60-36, their lowest scoring game of the year. High-pressure defense stifled the Wildcats, who only fired off 29 shots in the game.

That loss gave them a fourth place finish in the tournament, with Lake Highland going on to win it all.

Wimbley and Brown showed they could bring pressure to other teams on their own, with Wimbley forcing seven turnovers in one game and brown picking up four steals twice in the tournament.

The Wildcats (3-2) looked Wednesday for redemption, playing Cypress Creek at 7:30 p.m. at home at press time. Heading into the weekend they’ll have a familiar foe in Colonial (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at home. The Grenadiers have been on both sides of blowouts to start the season, beating Seabreeze 61-28 in their opener, then falling 58-42 to University. After that the Wildcats head to Oviedo for Hoops With a Heart, facing Celebration at 3 p.m. Dec. 8 to start things off.