Cuba High School boys’ basketball team wrapped up regular season play with a trio of games played on Feb. 16 in Union, Feb. 19 against Bourbon and Feb. 20 in Fatima. The Wildcats fell to Union, won handedly over Bourbon and lost to Fatima. Cuba finished the regular season with a 4-21 record. All games are detailed below. 

Cuba will have a week off before returning March 3 to host the Class 4 District 3 Tournament. The Wildcats are seeded sixth, and will play at 7:00 p.m. against three-seeded St. Clair.  

St. James earned the number one seed and will play the winner of four-seeded Owensville and five-seeded Sullivan at 5:30 p.m. on March 5 in a semifinals matchup. Salem is the number two seed and will play the winner of Cuba and St. Clair at 7:00 p.m. on March 5 in the semifinals on the other side of the bracket. 

Feb. 16 vs. Union

In a battle between Wildcats, Cuba traveled to Union for its second to last road game of the regular season. Union scored the first four points of the game before junior Braden Gipson responded with a three-point splash. But those were the only points Cuba would score in the first frame. Union took a 9-3 advantage into the second quarter, where both teams started to find some offensive rhythm. Cuba was able to cut its deficit to four, but Union responded with five straight points to take a nine point lead into halftime. 

Caleb Brown hit a baseline floater to narrow the gap to five points with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Union responded with a 13-2 run to end the frame to take a 39-23 lead into the final period. The final quarter was nearly even, and Cuba wasn’t able to overcome its deficit as Union came away with a 48-30 victory. 

Union used its size to its advantage, outrebounding Cuba 31-19 and outscoring the local Wildcats 26-12 in the paint. The referees seemed to bite their whistles throughout the game as Cuba only attempted one free throw and Union took just five shots from the charity stripe. 

Gipson knocked down a pair of treys and scored a team-high 11 points, while adding two rebounds and three steals. Brown logged a solid nine points, nine rebounds and two steals. Cameron Carnal scored four points and dished out three assists, Ethan Noltkamper scored three points and grabbed four rebounds and freshman Lane McInnis knocked down a late three-pointer for his first varsity points of the season. Cannon Brown knocked down four three-pointers to lead Union. 

Feb. 19 vs. Bourbon 

The Wildcats bounced back against Gasconade Valley Conference foe Bourbon in its last regular season home game of the season. Cuba scored the first 14 points of the game and never looked back. Wildcat senior forward Felipe Valadez dominated the first quarter, scoring five baskets in the paint to score nearly half of Cuba’s 21 point output in the frame. Cuba blew the game open in the second quarter thanks to tenacious defense that repeatedly forced turnovers, which became easy baskets on the other end. Cameron Carnal was the story of the quarter, as he poured in 13 points in the frame, including multiple rim rattling dunks that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Cuba led 50-12 at halftime and kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter. Junior Braden Gipson paced the Wildcats in the third period, scoring 11 of his game-high 20 points in the quarter. Cuba led 76-28 at the end of the third quarter and the final frame was played with a continuous clock. Both coaches emptied their benches halfway through the quarter and the Wildcats were able to coast to a 83-36 victory over the Warhawks.

Nine Wildcats scored baskets, led by Gipson’s 20-point effort. Carnal knocked down a pair of treys to go along with continuous attacks of the rim, and finished with 18 points. Valadez netted 12, Seth Adderly scored eight, Caleb Brown and Ethan Noltkamper both drained a pair of three-pointers and scored six points apiece, AJ Flores and Layten Eikermann each added five points and Christian DeLuna scored two points. Dawson King scored 13 points to lead Bourbon.

Cuba’s junior varsity team picked up a 28-21 victory in the first matchup of the evening between the Wildcats and the Warhawks. 

Feb. 20 vs. Fatima

The Wildcats played the following night in Westphalia against the Fatima Comets. Cuba’s offense kept them in the game against a Fatima team who came into action having won two of its last three games. Fatima led 18-12 after the first frame and both teams netted 14 points apiece in the second quarter to keep the difference at six points heading into halftime.

  Cuba poured in 20 points in the third period, but had trouble stopping Fatima in the paint, as the Comets scored 22, and took an eight point lead into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats put together another strong quarter offensively in the final frame, netting 19 points. But Fatima’s offense continued to hum and netted 23 points to propel them to a 77-65 victory over Cuba in a game that felt closer than the final score indicates. 

Gipson exploded for 31 points on an efficient 11-for-21 shooting, including seven makes from three-point land. Brown drained a season-high four three-pointers en route to 17 points, while adding five rebounds and two steals to his productive stat line. Carnal scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds, dished out six assists, swiped two steals and blocked one shot. Flores added five points, two rebounds and three assists to round out the Wildcats’ scorers. Noltkamper didn’t score but had six assists, three rebounds and a steal. Freshman Evan Klouzek led Fatima with 20 points and five rebounds.