Yates Center loses battle of Wildcats

YATES CENTER — A dismal third quarter, in which visiting Burlington High exploded for 28 points, did in Yates Center High’s boys Tuesday.
The outburst turned a 21-20 Yates Center lead into a 48-31 advantage for Burlington, which maintained its double digit lead in the fourth quarter, winning 57-45.
The loss wrapped up regular season action for Yates Center at 14-5. The Wildcats will open Class 2A substate action next week.
“I thought we played hard, but we didn’t play smart,” Yates Center head coach Jason Weilert said. “We had a lot of opportunities we didn’t take advantage of. And when you play a good team, that’s what gets you beat.”
Burlington led 17-13 be-fore Yates Center put the clamps on Burlington’s offense in the second quarter. Yates Center allowed the visiting Wildcats to score only three points in the period while nudging in front 21-20.
But Yates Center could not overcome Burlington’s third-quarter explosion.
Paul Stockebrand led Yates Center with 12 points and seven rebounds. Dalton Smith added 11 points and Blake Francis scored nine.
Zak Martin and Patrick Mahoney each scored 17 points to lead Burlington.
Yates Center (13-8-10-14—45) (FG/3 pt): Morrison 2-2-5-6, Knoblock 0-1-4-1, Aguirre 2-2-3-6, Francis 1/2-1-1-9, Stockebrand 2-8-4-12, Smith 3/1-2-4-11. TOTALS: 10/3-16-21-45.
Burlington (17-3-28-9—57) (FG/3pt): Martin 5-7-3-17, Sutherland 2-0-1-4, Mahoney 2/3-4-1-17, Boyce 1/1-1-2-6, Ratzlaff 0/1-0-1-3, Bluma 3-0-3-6, Ramsey 1-2-4-4, Moore 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 14/5-14-15-57.