Boys’ basketball lost 52-44 to Cocoa Wednesday night. The loss marks the fifth of the ‘Cats young season, to go along with one win. Junior Evan Lanier led the way for the Wildcats with 12 points, followed by junior Juan Rodriguez with 11. Also scoring for West Shore was senior Max Cormier and junior David Thompson, each with 10 points.

“We got off to a hot start,” Thompson said. “Our game plan going in was to basically keep the ball away from them and run the clock on offense. That worked in the beginning, but then they started playing a 1-3-1 zone defense, and our offense usually struggles against a 1-3-1, so they got a few run-out baskets. During that time, there was a stretch where we didn’t even score one point, and they got back in the game.

“One of their players started catching fire from behind the 3-point line, so we started denying him the ball in hopes that the game wouldn’t get out of hand. The game was reasonably close until the end. All four returning players from last season had good games, which isn’t uncommon. I had a 3-point shot with 1:30 left in the game which would have cut the deficit to three, but it rattled in then out, so we were forced to foul, and couldn’t get back in the game.”

The Wildcats next play Monday at West Shore against Astronaut. Tip off is at 7 p.m.