Sanir Byanjankar

Junior Namori Omog brings up the ball, looking for an opportunity. This was the second time the Wildcats competed against the Patriots.

The boys’ basketball team competed in three games this past week against the BCC Barons, the Wootton Patriots and Richard Montgomery Rockets. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Wildcats were defeated by the Barons, 61-48. The Wildcats kept it close in the first quarter, but as the game went on, BCC continuously cut back door and finished at the rim. 

During the second half of the game, the Barons zone defense made it challenging for WJ to get their shots off. The Wildcats showed up in the fourth quarter but were not able to close the gap. 

“I felt like we didn’t do a good enough job defensively and when the going got tough, we started trying to do too much individually as opposed to sticking with our defensive set,” junior guard Ben Kim said. 

On Friday, Jan. 6, WJ faced the Wootton Patriots for the second time this season. The Wildcats started out strong on offense as well as playing tight on defense and pressing; however, they slowly let off the gas.

“In the Wootton game, we had too many mental lapses on defense that allowed easy points for them, which is disappointing considering how far into the season we are,” Kim added. 

The Patriots height became a struggle for the Wildcats in the paint. In the fourth quarter, Wootton increased their lead, ending the game, 71-55.

“Last week wasn’t how we expected to come back from break against two big division rivals, we have to play better than that for the rest of the season. We’re working to be better every day and still believe we have a lot of potential to compete with the top teams in the division,” senior forward Irad Zilberman said. 

The Wildcats were then taken down by the Richard Montgomery Rockets 89-72 last night, Jan. 9.The Wildcats will travel to face the Gaithersburg Trojans on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7:15 p.m.