After a late start to the season for most of their players, whose football season didn’t end until a week ago, the Ferndale boys basketball team is starting to build some momentum.

The Wildcats closed out the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville with a record of 1-2 but the Division-6 team got some good early competition against a Division-4 team and a pair of D-5 programs.

The Cats lost their tournament opener to D-4 Kelseyville by a score of 59-35, but bounced back a day later to beat D-5 Lower Lake 50-30 and then closed out the tournament on Saturday with a 42-34 loss to D-5 Cloverdale.

“It was good competition for us to settle in, as we were the only D-6 team (at the tournament),” head coach Tristen Waters said. 

Thursday’s tourney opener against the host school was close for much of the night before Kelseyville pulled away late with a big fourth quarter after getting hot from downtown.

“We battled with them and I was very pleased with our defense,” Waters said. “Offensively we saw fits, as it continued to show that we only had practiced three times to prepare.”

Thomas Fergison, who was named all-tourney, finished with 10 points in the loss, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Prescott Langer added eight points and was a force on the boards.

Wes Renner also had eight points for Ferndale and impressed on the defensive end.

“I was very pleased with how much we fought,” the head coach added. “I think the host (team) was a bit shellshocked how well we competed.”

Fergison continued to impress against Lower Lake and finished with 15 points.

The senior playmaker was a consistent threat from downtown and dished with five 3s.

“We just overpowered them defensively ands turned defense into offense,” Waters said. 

Langer added 12 points and is “proving to be such a great two-way player” early in the season, according to his coach.

Braedon Rice also had a good game and finished with 10 points, as the coaches went deep to their bench after the interval after taking control of the game in the first half.

“He is doing really well advancing the ball in transition and taking advantage of the lack of transition defense,” Waters said of Rice.

The Ferndale boys continued to battle in their tournament finale against the Eagles despite trailing 28-15 at halftime.

Offense again proved to be problematic after the late start this season for most of the players.

“We lost their shooter in the first half too many times, and that was our main issue, aside from our lackluster offense,” Waters said. “We appeared to out-play them in the second half as we started to contain their lights out shooter.”

The Cats also began to run their offense more effectively in the second half.

“I was so pleased with our defense, especially in the second half,” Waters added of the unit that helped the Eagles to just 42 points for the game. “That speaks volumes on these kids competitiveness.”

Langer scored a team-high 18 points in the loss.

“Prescott has impressed me from the first practice on,” Waters said of the standout sophomore. “He’s dominant on the boards and on the defensive end of the floor.”

Fergison capped three strong days with nine points in the loss, including a pair of 3s.

The Wildcats are now 2-4.