Boys' Basketball: Wilde Lake Upsets Reservoir, Advances in Playoffs

The crowd at Reservoir High School sat stunned at what the Wilde Lake Wildecats had done.

Those in the stands had watched as Wilde Lake had jumped out to an early lead, and they had looked on as their Gators had come back, taken control and dominated for much of the game.

But then, right in front of their eyes, the Wildecats had retaliated with a decisive fourth quarter and pulled out the win, 54-44.

This is what the Reservoir fans saw on Friday evening:

The game plan for Wilde Lake was to stop Reservoir’s point guard, Taz Larry. Wilde Lake started out with a diamond-and-one defense to begin the game.

The plan not only curtailed the Gators offense, but it allowed the Wildecats to create turnovers and get out in transition.

Khalil Vierra was the main beneficiary of this defense. He scored the first eight points of the game, those points coming from turnovers that the defense created. Vierra scored a team-high 18 on the night.

Down 8-0 early in the first quarter, Reservoir coach Ryan Carson called a timeout to calm his team.

Forwards Dillon Glenn and Joey Usher then started to break down the diamond-and-one after the timeout, exposing the holes in the zone with their accurate mid-range shooting and by driving aggressively to the basket.

Glenn would go on to have a huge night for the Gators, scoring 20 points and making four 3-pointers. But he was also held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Wilde Lake adjusted on defense by playing man-to-man for a while, but the Gators were still able to score easily, dominating the second and third quarters.

Wilde Lake had since changed its defense again, this time to a 2-3 zone. It took a while for the players to get used to it, but in the fourth quarter it finally paid off.

“The thing about the zone is that once you miss a couple shots, the zone gets stronger,” said Wilde Lake coach Dave Appleby. “We don’t practice 2-3, but we looked like Syracuse out there.”

Down 41-31 at the end of the third quarter, Wilde Lake saw that their lackluster season – they entered the game with a 9-13 record – was possibly coming to an end. After their early run, the Wildecats offense was struggling. Now, whenever they forced a Reservoir turnover, they found a way to turn the ball right back over to the Gators.

Wilde Lake struggled to get easy buckets and also missed opportunities when at the free throw line. They shot 55 percent from the charity stripe in the first three quarters.

“We’ve lost a lot of close games this year,” Appleby said. “You could see their body language sagging.”

The Wildecats needed a spark, and they found it in the final quarter, overwhelming Reservoir and outscoring them 23-3 in the fourth.

After going cold for two quarters, Vierra and Dante Garner were masterful in transition. Garner, Vierra and center Ben Vester all completed three-point plays in the fourth to help lead their team to victory.

Out of nowhere, the Wildecats found themselves tied with Gators at 44 with 3:19 remaining in the game.  

After a Reservoir timeout, Wilde Lake held the Gators scoreless and went on to win their first-round game in this postseason.

The Wildecats helped themselves in the fourth quarter by making their free throws count, shooting 75 percent from the line. Vester scored seven of his 14 points from in the quarter, going 5 for 5 from the free-throw line.

Wilde Lake's next playoff game will come Monday against River Hill.

Wilde Lake top scorers:

Khalil Vierra 18; Ben Vester 14; Dante Garner 11

Reservoir top scorers:

Glenn Dillon 20; Joey Usher 11