Yates Center boys win

NEODESHA — It took a while — thanks to host Neodesha’s zone defense — for Yates Center High’s boys to find consistent offensive play.
The Wildcats never did take off offensively, but their own defense was more than enough for Yates Center to secure a 43-25 win Friday.
The victory lifts Yates Center’s record to 14-4.
“We played very well defensively,” Wildcat head coach Jason Weilert said. “Their zone defense definitely slowed us down, but we started hitting shots in the second half to force them out of their zone.”
Yates Center led 12-8 after one quarter and 22-14 at the break. The margin grew to 32-21 by the end of the third. Yates Center closed the game with an 11-4 run to secure the win.
Dalton Smith led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Jake Morrison added 11 points and Paul Stockebrand scored 10.
Randy Groth’s eight points led the Bluestreaks.
Neodesha won the junior varsity contest 34-29. Robert Arnold scored eight to pace the Wildcat JV.
Yates Center hosts Burlington tonight to wrap up the regular season.
Neodesha (8-6-7-4—25) (FG/3-pt): Lopez 3-0-1-6, Knickerbocker 3-0-4-6, Pruter 0-2-2-2, Scott 0/1-0-1-3, K. Baird 0-0-1-0, Groth 3-2-3-8. TOTALS: 9/1-4-16-25.
Yates Center (12-10-10-11—43) (FG/3-pt): Schemper 0-1-0-1, Morrison 2/1-4-2-11, Knoblock 0-0-1-0, Aguirre 1-0-0-2, Francis 0/1-0-2-3, Stockebrand 3/1-1-3-10, Smith 6-4-4-16. TOTALS: 12/3-10-12-43.