Have you ever heard of an underdog story? On February 14, 2025 the Westminster
Wildcats took down the undefeated Principia Panthers. It was a cat on cat matchup that was
going to come down to who had the most grit. The odds were stacked against the Wildcats, but
anybody standing in that gym could look around and feel something wild about to happen.
Coming into this game Coach Dale Ribble could have told you that the Panthers might
win 9 of 10 games, but not this one, not tonight! Some could have said that the Wildcats
resembled the Avengers assembled. From the opening tip off, the structure of our defense was
impeccable and shut down every possible attribute of the Panthers offense. On the other side of
the ball, Sophomore Will Powers and Senior Evan Montandon had a combined 40 points.
“Playing for the boys and playing for each other was our main motivation throughout the game,”
said Powers.
Every time that buzzer rattled the building at the end of each quarter, it felt as though the
win was inching closer. The student section roared and continued to grow louder after every
Wildcat bucket. From the full court press to the unguardable three point shooting, the Wildcats
played lights out. Nothing in the gym that night was going to hold back Westminster from getting
the victory. While Quentin Coleman for Principia seemed to be unstoppable, Coach Ribble’s
play design was able to create little opportunity for the Panthers. “Not letting their big man get
going was our focus because that is what we did a bad job on against John Burroughs,” said
Tobi Akinyede, junior forward.
Principia was coming from behind throughout the entire game and the Panthers
struggled to catch up. The Wildcats maintained the lead the whole game and executed on all
parts of the floor. Many of the play designs finished with JD Robertson shooting a three in the
corner. He ended the game with 14 points.
About halfway through the game Akinyede got a steal and transition dunk that created
more momentum and electrified the crowd for the rest of the game. Fortunately that lead grew
larger until the Westminster Wildcats managed to win by 12, proving the whole city wrong.