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Wildcats lose to TCC Trojans, 53-50, on Tuesday night in Alpena

By Owen Kinzey 3 min read

ALPENA - The Alpena High School girl's basketball team (9-6, 4-3 BNC) entered the night, standing second in the Big North Conference only behind Traverse City Central, undefeated in the BNC.

Taking on the Trojans at home, the Wildcats maintained a lead for most of the game until Alpena began to crumble out of nowhere.

Little mental errors and unfortunate calls from the referees ultimately led to the Wildcats' 53-50 loss.

"Our first half went really well; we stopped them on defense, and we ran our offense perfectly. The second half came around, and we started to settle for more threes, and we didn't respond well to some tough calls," Alpena coach Laura Dubey said.

Alpena's Faith Dragiewicz kicked off the game, getting to the foul line and stealing the early lead.

The Wildcat's successful first quarter was controlled by its defense, which only allowed five points.

Kiera Prue and Reese Wisniewski blocked shots, and Wisniewski took the ball from the opposing team like she had all year.

Wisniewski also led the Wildcat's offense, scoring a three and a two and assisting Avery Dubey in her four points.

This offensive start and defensive masterclass led Alpena to a massive 12-5 lead after a quarter.

Although the offense started great, the Wildcats amped it up even more in the second, scoring a team-high 15 points.

A pair of threes came from Dubey, and two free throws to keep Alpena out in front.

On the other end, Lucia France had an incredible quarter herself. She racked up eight points, all inside the paint, to outscore Alpena during the second.

Heading into the half, Alpena still held a 27-22 lead despite not scoring as much as TCC.

Even holding a five-point lead, the Wildcats needed to keep their foot on the gas pedal offensively and slow the Trojans defensively.

Although this was the game plan, Alpena couldn't execute, and the consistent offense provided by Wisniewski and Dubey disappeared.

Alpena's halfcourt offense came to a halt, and when they weren't getting stops on defense, they could not score.

That was until Prue stepped up and scored a strong six points, leading the offense. While this was saving Alpena, Prue found a few fouls and would be in foul trouble for the remainder of the game.

Alpena held a four-point lead by the end of the third, but things soon changed.

France continued her consistent eight points in the fourth quarter, and TCC combined for a game-high 17 points when it mattered most.

On Alpena's side of the court, Prue and Dragiewicz found their way to the basket, but only one point from Wisniewski and zero from Dubey damaged the offense.

Even with these struggles, Alpena had the perfect play to win the game, but a tough miss from Prue at the end sealed the game, favoring the Trojans.

"We will get them back. We had our chance, and we were right there, but we just couldn't finish it. We'll come ready when we head to TCC because we want this one back," Coach Dubey said.

Dubey led the Wildcats in scoring with three three-pointers, finishing with 17.

Prue ended just behind her with 16.

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