Preps: Wildcats can take big step with win over Ravens

As inconsistent as Wharton’s boys have been all season, the Wildcats have an opportunity on Tuesday night to put themselves in position for the No.1 seed in the Class 6A-District 8 tournament as they travel to face Alonso.

But after another up-and-down week that saw his side lose 3-2 to Brandon, the Eagles first district win, before beating Plant 2-1, Wildcats coach Scott Ware is just hoping his side can put together a winning streak for the second time this season.

“With Plant Friday, the guys did well, and the victory put us on top of the table,” Ware said. “Now the question is can we keep it up now, because our consistency obviously has been spotty.”

Alonso and new coach Alan Turnquist have faced a similar battle, with a four-game winning streak that included a 4-1 win against Plant ending on Friday with a 4-2 defeat against Bloomingdale. Turnquist said he was hoping the Ravens would come out with better energy to start the game against Wharton, as they have been somewhat flat in their last few outings.

“It takes us to get down by one or two goals before the guys will come out with a solid effort,” Turnquist said. “We’re trying to establish a team that comes with the same effort game in and game out for 80 minutes, and we’ve been a little inconsistent. We’ve shown flashes of brilliance, and then other times we look like we couldn’t beat our way out of a paper bag.”

Turnquist is hoping to get good performances from his forward pair of Chase Fullman and Jonathon Thomas, both of whom have scored seven goals this season. He is also looking for midfielder Hugo Ramos, who missed the Ravens’ 2-0 loss to the Wildcats earlier in the season, to have an impact on the game.

Ware, on the other hand, is just hoping his side can find some goals, no matter the source.

“As long as we can put balls in the back of the net, the team’s happy,” Ware said. “I don’t mind spreading it out, which we have done all season. I think the leading scorer may have three goals at most, maybe four, on our team, so we have spread it out, but as long as we’re getting goals from somewhere, I’m content with that, and we’ve got to keep pushing for shutouts as well. If we’re going to score two goals a game, we can’t give up two goals a game either.”