After another rough start for the Wildcat Basketball team, the team traveled to Willard, Mo., to compete in the Four-State Classic in hopes of competing against some fresh, diverse competition.

“I like playing in tournaments because it eliminates all distractions,” said senior center Alex Rice, “which makes it easy to stay focused.”

The Wildcats made the 2.5 hour trip to Willard worth the drive. They came out and played a more aggressive style of game play and competed very impressively.

The Wildcats finished with a respectable 3rd place finish and a tournament record of 2-1.

The biggest accomplishment for the Wildcats was Rice’s first career 30-point game against Fort Scott, Kan., which, to no surprise, lead to the announcement of his qualification for the All-Tournament Team.

“I felt honored to make All-Tournament” said Rice.

Rice also scored 15 points against Willard and 23 points against Broken Arrow, Okla.

But he knew he could not have achieved this prestigious honor without the support of his teammates.

“Our team got better each game and played very unselfish,” said Rice. “We had a size mismatch when their (Willard) 6’11” player wasn’t in the game. So our perimeter players did a great job of finding ways to get the ball inside to me.”

Modesty for his game on and off the court is not the only trait that Rice contributes to the team.

“He’s (Rice) a good leader. He’s one of the greater influences out of the seniors on the team,” said junior shooting guard Rickey Jones. “He always works hard and he knows the game of basketball.”