Cuba High School’s varsity boys’ basketball team had 10 days off from its Feb. 6 courtwarming game against School of the Osage until its next game on Feb. 16 in Union. That game will be detailed in next week’s edition.

The Wildcats will then host Bourbon on Feb. 19 and play in Fatima on Feb. 20 in its last regular-season game of the season. Cuba will have a week off before they host the Class 4 District 3 Tournament. The bracket for districts isn’t available yet and will be detailed in next week’s edition.

In the meantime, Cuba’s junior varsity team competed in Bourbon’s junior varsity tournament on Feb. 11 and Feb. 14. The Wildcats fell to Vienna on Feb. 11, defeated Bourbon on Feb. 14 before falling to Owensville in the consolation finals later in the afternoon. All of Cuba’s games are detailed below.

Feb. 11 vs. Vienna

The first half of Cuba’s junior varsity game versus the Vienna Eagles was a close, defensive battle. The Wildcats led 7-5 after the first quarter and trailed 14-13 heading into halftime. Things got away from Cuba in the third period when Vienna ran a full-court press on defense, and repeatedly forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over. The Eagles outscored Cuba 19-5 in the quarter to turn a one-point lead into a 15-point margin going into the final quarter. The Wildcats continued to struggle to score in the final frame, and managed just two points. Vienna used its defense to propel itself to a 43-20 victory over the Wildcats.

Brayden Lewis led Cuba with seven points on a three-pointer and a pair of baskets near the rim. Layten Eikermann added six, Lane McInnis chipped in four and Elijah Jesse scored three to round out the scorers for the Wildcats. Sophomore Wyatt Wulff scored a game-high 11 points to lead the Eagles.

Cuba headed to the consolation portion of the bracket and played at 9 a.m. against Bourbon on Feb. 14 in the consolation semifinals.

Feb. 14 vs. Bourbon

The Wildcats tipped off multiple rounds of action in the final day of the Bourbon JV tournament against GVC foe Bourbon.

Cuba came out slow and managed just four points in the first frame. The Wildcats trailed by eight after the first frame, but turned things around in the second quarter by playing tenacious defense. The Wildcats held Bourbon to a pair of points in the frame and scored 11, turning its eight-point deficit into a one-point lead heading into halftime. Both teams found their offensive groove in the third period and scored 14 points apiece, as Cuba maintained its one-point lead heading into the final frame. 

The final period was a back-and-forth battle, as the lead changed multiple times and the game ended up coming down to the wire. 

With less than 20 seconds remaining, Layten Eikermann scored what would end up being the game-winning basket, and the Wildcats escaped with a 40-39 victory to head to the consolation finals against Owensville.

The freshman Eikermann played his best game of his young career, pouring in a career-high 25 points, to account for more than half of Cuba’s scoring. Elijah Jesse scored five, Seth Adderly added four and Christian DeLuna, Billie Thompson and Gavin Robinson each scored two for the Wildcats. Bryar Stricklan scored 11 points to lead the Warhawks.

Feb. 14 vs. Owensville

The Wildcats had almost three hours of downtime in between their first game and their matchup with Owensville.

The Dutchmen didn’t have to play earlier in the day and used its fresh legs to pressure Cuba full court. Owensville led from tip off until the final buzzer and stifled any momentum the Wildcats had gained in the first game. The Dutchmen led 26-6 at halftime and 41-11 after three quarters before coasting to a 47-15 victory over Cuba to win the consolation finals of the tournament.

Noah Halbert scored a team-high six points, Robinson added four, Adderly and Jesse chipped in two and Eikermann was held to one point. Junior Bryce Kramme knocked down five shots from three-point land en route to a game-high 17 points to lead the Dutchmen.