Cats take down Spain Park to advance to title game

The Enterprise Wildcats basketball team fell one game short of a state championship in 2021 but made sure they would have another opportunity to claim the crown as they disposed of Spain Park 73-58 in the semifinal game of the state playoffs at the BJCC Legacy Arena on Thursday, March 3.

Enterprise would face James Clemons on Saturday, March 5, an 80-66 winner over Baker.

“We have talked to our guys all week long about defending, playing with toughness and we couldn’t be more proud of our guy for playing with toughness,” said head coach Rhett Harrelson. “This is special to Enterprise. It doesn’t come around that often. It is so special to be here and put ourselves in the position to play in the championship game.”

The Cats started the game on a 16-3 run and led the entire game. Spain Park came to life at the 3:41 mark of the period and went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 16-10. The two teams traded baskets and went to the second period with Enterprise up 18-12.

Spain Park started the second period scoring 4 points to pull within 2 at 18-16 but that’s the closest it would get in the game. The rest of the period turned into a defensive battle with plenty of missed shots and turnovers for both teams. Enterprise went into the half ahead 26-21.

At the half, the Cats had 8 steals to Spain Park’s 2. Spain Park had 10 turnovers to Enterprise’s 6 while the teams were pretty evenly matched on rebounds with Enterprise garnering 13 while Spain Park had 12. Kenneth Mitchell was the only player on both teams to reach double figures in the first half with 11 points.

The depth of the Cats bench began to show in the second half. Spain Park opened the third period matching baskets with Enterprise but the Cats went on an 11-0 run and finished the period ahead 43-27. Enterprise outscored Spain Park 17-6 in the third.

The Wildcats continued to add to their total with the biggest lead of the game coming at the 4:51 mark of the fourth period with the score 54-36, an 18-point lead. Elijah Terry scored 11 points in the period to pace the Cats.

Enterprise shot a blistering 56.9 percent for the game. The Cats outrebounded Spain Park 30-28 but the most telling statistics were on defense. Enterprise had 13 steals to Spain Park’s 5 while the Cats only turned the ball over 11 times to Spain Park’s 20. Enterprise also had 20 points off turnovers while Spain Park had 6, and the Cats had 8 bench points to Spain Park’s 0. Second chance points were also big as Enterprise had 14 while Spain Park had 8.

“We’ve been practicing face guarding them,” said Mitchell. “We started new defense and hustle plays that helped us be successful in the game.”

Enterprise had four players in double figures. Terry led all scorers with 19 points, Mitchell had 16, Dunlap had 12 and Hobdy had 10.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said Harrelson. “With the style that we play with, it’s not about the way we start but how we finish. I could not be more proud to play for four quarters with integrity and toughness.”

Enterprise had eight days between the regional game and the semifinals. “I think the rest is good,” Harrelson said. “Especially with the style we are trying to play. It gives us the extra time to get our legs up under us.”

“We’ve been working on the press all week,” said Terry. “We’ve been running all week. We can’t be satisfied.”

“This group right here are great listeners and hungry and that helped us win,” Harrelson said.