The OPH Wildcats boys basketball team played their first round of regionals on Monday, February 19th, at 6 PM. The Wildcats, seed 12, played the Mount Carmel Aces, seed 7. The Wildcats had a large fan section as they anticipated a close game between the Wildcats and Aces. The fans expectations were succeeded as the Wildcats stayed neck and neck with the Aces the entirety of the game.

The starters for the OPH Wildcats were Will Callaway, Riley Blank, Trevan Webster, Graydon Kincaid, and Max Lewis. The Wildcats won the tip off, but the Aces overturned the ball and scored the first basket of the game. OPH quickly got back up and was even ahead 18-12 at the end of the 1st quarter. Neither team let their tiredness get the best of them, and pushed through the 2nd quarter competitively with a score of 21-19, Mount Carmel leading. After halftime, the game kept getting even more competitive and even the fans and student section were getting upset. The refs weren’t making good calls, making everyone in the gym get aggravated. The behavior was so bad, that even Mount Carmel’s coach got a technical. It was also hard for our players to concentrate when the opposing players and student section were making nasty remarks directly at them. Even with everything going on in the gym, the Wildcats came out on top with a final score of 70-59, a true underdog victory!

The Wildcats play in the semi-final regional game against Newton, seed 3, at Newton Community High School at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, February 21st. Show up and support!