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DHS junior Ryan Stallbaumer tries to reach the rebound before his St. James Academy opponent during the Wildcats' home game against the Thunder on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The Wildcats lost the game 50-35. by Laura Herring

In an aggressive game Wednesday night, the De Soto High School Wildcats lost to St. James Academy 50-35 at home. Despite starting the second half ahead by two points, a rough third quarter put the 'Cats behind and they couldn't recover.

Senior Mason Wedel started the game off strong for the Wildcats, scoring a three-point shot early in the first quarter. The early start wasn't much help for the Wildcats though as St. James' ability to beat De Soto to the rebound earned them multiple shots of their own. Wedel scored another four points for De Soto in the quarter, two from the foul line, it wasn't enough to close the 13-7 gap St. James had started.

The second quarter looked better for the Wildcats as the game quickly became a 15-15 tie and ended with the Wildcats up by two points. Then came the third quarter.

The Thunder continued to out rebound and out handle the ball and the score continued to slip for the Wildcats. Increasing fouls by De Soto players helped boost the score for St. James, including a technical foul on DHS junior Isaac Lueth. The quarter ended with St. James up 36-27.

De Soto's streak of fouling St. James continued into the fourth quarter, when the score quickly jumped to 40-29 for the Thunder. Lueth and senior T.J. Crow brought De Soto's final score up to 35 before the game ended 50-35.

Seniors Wedel and Crow led the scoring for De Soto with 18 and 12 points respectively. Crow sank four three-point shots.

More photos can be seen here.