CUBA – Cuba High School’s boy’s basketball team competed in the 64th Annual Legends Bank-Holiday Classic Tournament in Linn on Dec. 15 in a matchup against Fatima. The Wildcats fell to Fatima and Eldon before defeating Linn to end their calendar year on a high note. Cuba (2-8) will have a couple weeks off for the holidays before playing on Jan. 6 at Sullivan. The Wildcats’ next home game is Jan. 12 against New Haven. 

Dec. 15 vs. Fatima

The Wildcats found themselves in a defensive battle against Fatima in which baskets were at a premium. Fatima quickly got out to a 7-0 lead before Cuba head coach DJ Dace called a timeout to settle his team down. The Wildcats battled back and trailed 15-9 after the first quarter. Cuba’s defense intensity ramped up in the second quarter and gave up just five points in the frame as the Wildcats went into halftime trailing by one, 19-20 on the scoreboard. Both team’s offense picked up in the third quarter as Fatima outscored Cuba 15-11 in the frame to take a 35-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But the Wildcats would just manage three-points in the final frame and Fatima found its rhythm, outscoring Cuba 11-3 in the quarter to pull away with a 46-33 victory. 

Dace said afterwards that the Wildcats’ went away from their original game plan and its slow start and poor fourth quarter play were the reason the game slipped away from them. 

“We didn’t shoot the ball well most of the night, but the big thing is we went away from the game plan. We started off with a few bad turnovers and they were up 7-0 early, settled down and played good after that,” Dace said. “We came out in the fourth and hit a three to open it and then we kinda started playing badly. Then it got to a point we had to go man and we couldn’t guard them. We had them where we wanted, just weren’t consistent long enough.” 

The Wildcats didn’t have a double-digit scorer for the first time since the Nov. 29 blowout loss to West Memphis when the team managed just 20 points. Caleb Brown led Cuba with nine points and added six rebounds, two steals and a block. Cuba’s leading scorer Braden Gipson was held to eight points but knocked down a couple three-pointers and dished out three assists. Ethan Noltkamper scored five points and led the Wildcats with seven rebounds. Felipe Valadez scored an efficient four points in just nine minutes of action. Cameron Carnal didn’t have his usual productive night scoring and finished with four points. Carnal did grab five rebounds, dished out three assists and snagged a steal. AJ Flores drained a three-pointer in the third quarter and had two assists and two steals. 

Dec. 16 vs. Eldon

Cuba had a quick turnaround and took the hour bus ride back to Linn the next afternoon to compete against Eldon. The Wildcats got off to a slow start and were down 15-4 after the first quarter. Cuba had an uphill battle the rest of the game but didn’t lay down without a fight. The Wildcats scored 16 in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 31-20. Cuba then outscored Eldon 13-10 in the third quarter and headed into the fourth quarter, down by eight. But that was as close as the Wildcats would get as the fatigue set in and Eldon smelled blood in the water. Eldon outscored Cuba 13-9 in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 53-42 victory. 

The Wildcats (1-8) received double digit scoring efforts from Brown, Gipson and Noltkamper. Brown finished with 13 points on an efficient 5-for-9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Gipson scored 12 points, dished out three assists and swiped four steals. Noltkamper scored a season-high 11 points and hit a trio of shots from deep. Flores and Carnal each knocked down a three-ball as their only bucket. Valadez didn’t score in 23 minutes of action but grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked one shot. 

The Wildcats were decimated in the paint as they were outrebounded 31-24 and outscored 30-12 in the paint. Cuba outbattled Eldon for second chance points, scoring 14 compared to just five from Eldon. 

Dace stayed positive when reflecting on his team’s performance as 2025 comes to a close. 

“Some guys are playing well and we’re growing in a lot of areas,” Dace said. “It’s getting there. Christmas break will be big for us.” 

Cuba had a couple days off before returning to Linn to compete in the last day of the Tournament and their last game of the calendar year against Linn in the tournament’s seventh place game. 

Dec. 19 vs. Linn

The Wildcats were in need of a feel good victory heading into the holiday break after two losses to start the 64th Annual Legends Bank Holiday Classic in Linn. Gipson made sure that would happen and came out of the gates scorching hot to score 14 of his season-high 28 points in the frame. Cuba went up 17-8 after the first quarter and never looked back. The Wildcats led 32-21 at halftime, 53-37 after the third quarter, before adding on its lead in the fourth quarter to walk away with a 72-49 victory. 

Carnal, who was scoreless in the first half, erupted for 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Brown showed his all-around versatility with 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks while showcasing his shooting touch from deep, knocking down a pair of trifectas. 

The three-pointers came in bunches for the Wildcats as Gipson knocked down three from deep and Flores also hit a trio of trey-balls to finish with nine points. Noltkamper hit one from long range in the first quarter and freshman Layten Eikermann made his first varsity shot from downtown. Adderly and Valadez each made a close-range basket to finish with two points. 

Gipson tied Brown for the Wildcats’ leader in assists with four and led the team in steals with three. Cuba outrebounded Linn 26-16 and also had more blocks, steals and assists than Linn. Linn was led by Gus Peters and Dawson Sprenger who scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.