Friday, February 23rd, boys’ basketball had their last home game of the season. JV and varsity competed against the Herculaneum Blackcats.
After JV’s victory, varsity was quickly lined up to run out to their song, “Family Ties” by Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar. The song started to play, and the boys ran out to the court, where they were greeted by fans with smiles and loud cheers. Their warm-up was very neatly put together and got the student section pumped for the game. After, the Herculaneum Blackcats were introduced onto the court and the lights began to dim. Fans in the student section were quick to turn on their flashlights from their phones. Over the mic, Mr. Kline deepened his voice and roared, “Now your Fredericktown Blackcats!” The starting lineup was announced as each starter ran out on the court and received praise from the crowd.
The varsity game started with Zander Stephens (12) at tip off. Zander had been successful by tipping the ball to his teammate, Tim DeSanto (12). Tim then handed the ball off to Blake Terry-Breakfield (10), our point guard, to get the game started. The game had quickly picked up with Zander scoring a few baskets. Fredericktown had points over Herculaneum in a matter of minutes. Students had made a large cardboard cut-out of Zander’s head that they put on a stick to hold his picture up as they cheered for him. Halfway into the first quarter, Caleb Feltz (9) and Miguel Millan (12) subbed into the game for Braydon McMinn (11) and Tim. Blake had a fast break and a 3-pointer soon after. This put Fredericktown up by quite a few points. Braysen Reagan (11) subbed in for Caleb after he had played phenomenal defense for half a quarter. The first quarter was over: Fredericktown had a fifteen-point lead on Herculaneum.
The second quarter began with Fredericktown’s original starters. Soon after the start of the quarter, Zander got fouled in the paint and moved on to shoot two free throws. Soon after, Caleb Feltz scored in the paint after being put into the game. The student section started to chant, “He’s a freshman!” Half time arrived and the score was 32-18, Fredericktown. The boys headed to the locker room with their heads held high. The FHS Gold Dusters gave an astonishing performance at halftime that left everyone excited.
Coming back from the locker room, the boys were still ecstatic and quickly moved to the court. Right off the bat, Zander was once again fouled and made both of his free throws. went to Herculaneum’s side, where Zander blocked a player from the other team who went for a layup. Later, Caleb entered the game again and was fouled; he made one of two free throws. In the third quarter, Fredericktown still had a good lead that left Herculaneum unable to catch up.
Moving into the last quarter, the Fredericktown boys were feeling very confident in their chances of defeating the Herculaneum Blackcats. During the last minutes, Herculaneum called a timeout. Fredericktown put Jackson Smith, (12) into the game, and he constantly hustled to play defense. After numerous points scored by Fredericktown, they won the game with the score being 65-48. Go Blackcats!
