Robert Burns, 18th century Scottish poet, dedicated a poem to a mouse after he had destroyed the mouse's home while plowing a field on his father's farm. The poem, intended to provide comfort to the mouse, looks like this, after some updating of the language:

"But mousie, you are not alone

In proving that looking ahead may be in vain.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray

And leave us nothing but grief and pain

Instead of the promised joy."

If the Charger basketball teams and their fans didn't realize that "the best laid plans of mice and

men often go astray" before last night's games with West Central Valley, they certainly do now. In everybody's mind, players and fans alike, there was a plan. The Chargers were going to Stuart, do battle with the Wildcats and come home with two wins.

It was a good plan--well conceived and made perfect sense. In its previous outing the ACGC girls had played their best game of the season in defeating Ogden last Friday. The team had momentum and had lost to WCV by only four points in their previous meeting in December. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was definitely doable. Confidence abounded. A winning streak was getting started.

For the boys it was clear that the Chargers were the superior team as they had whipped the Wildcats by thirty two points in their first meeting. So the plan was to take care of business, pick up a win over the 1-11 Wildcats and build some confidence heading into Friday's game at Panorama.

But the plans came to nought. Despite a good effort by the girls in what was a close game til the very end, the Chargers fell by a 58-46 score. After the boys built a 14-5 lead after the first quarter, WCV showed it had its own plan, outscored ACGC 22-5 in the second frame, and never looked back to claim a 64-52 win.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the girls' game with the score knotted at 8-8 after one quarter. Half way through the second period Genevieve "G" Hoover came off the bench to spark the Chargers with solid outside shooting to lead a five point run that tied the score at 19-19. WCV responded with its own run of seven points to end the half leading by a 26-19 margin.

After intermission the Wildcats expanded their lead to eleven at 36-25 midway through the third quarter. Scores by Jaden Carrick and Jorja Hoover closed the gap to nine at 38-29 with two minutes to go in the quarter. "G" then put on a remarkable shooting display over the last 1:40 of the quarter, as she hit three consecutive treys to close the deficit to 40-38 at quarter's end.

Neither team could muster much offense in first half of the final stanza, as the score was 46-43 with three minutes to go in the game. After two free throws by WCV, "G" hit yet another three pointer to make the score 48-46 with something over two minutes to go. The Chargers did not score again. With ACGC forced to foul as the clock wound down, the Wildcats converted on 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to claim the victory. Plan derailed for the Chargers after a strong effort.

Genevieve Hoover's shooting prowess yielded 17 career high points on 6 of 7 shooting, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arch. Carrick added 9 points and Sierra O'Brien 8. Olivia Laabs pulled down 7 rebounds, while Mady Smith led the team in assists with 3. Savana Fuller had 4 steals for the Chargers. Grace Dupuy led WCV with 16 points. From the field ACGC shot 36% on 20 makes out of 56 attempts, which included 5 of 16 shooting on three point tries. The Chargers attempted only 6 free throws and converted on only 1.

The Charger boys started out just as expected with a 14-5 lead after one quarter on 6 of 12 shooting including two three pointers by Bryce Littler. Everything went south after that, including "the best laid plan." A 1-2-2 press gave ACGC problems and the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to start the second quarter, finishing the quarter with a 22-4 advantage and a 27-18 halftime lead.

WCV expanded its lead in the third quarter, as Caden Wardyn's four free throws were the only points the Chargers put on the board in the first half of the quarter. The deficit increased to 18 points at 42-24 until the Chargers closed it to 46-33 on a basket by Quynton Younker at the buzzer.

Strong free throw shooting by WCV prevented the ACGC from making a run in the final stanza. Thirteen made free throws by the Wildcats over the last eight minutes kept the Chargers at bay. For the game the Wildcats converted on 24 of 30 free throws. ACGC by contrast shot only 12 free throws for the game, making 7.

Caden Wardyn and Bryce Littler each scored sixteen points to lead the Chargers. Wardyn connected on 6 of 12 field goals and 4 of 6 free throws, while 12 of Littler's points came from beyond the arc on 4 of 9 attempts. Noah Nelson added 9 points and led the team in assists with 3. Collin Stowe led in rebounds with 7 while Quenton Spack had 6. Cole Arnburg led WCV with 19 points.

As a team the Chargers shot 42% from the floor, connecting on 20 of 48 attempts. The team's two point accuracy was 58% on 15 makes out of 26 tries, but only 5 of 22 three pointers hit the mark.

The Charger girls have little time to rest, as they will face CAM this Thursday in a girls only JV/Varsity double header. The JV game will begin at 6 PM. A freshman girls' game is scheduled for 4:30. Both girls and boys teams will travel to Panorama on Friday to face the Panthers.

Girls' score by quarters Boys' score by quarters

ACGC 8 11 19 8--46 ACGC 14 4 15 19--52

WCV 8 18 14 18--58 WCV 5 22 19 18--64 Box score

Box score REB FG 3Pt FT O-D AST STL TP

FG 3Pt FT O-D AST STL TP Sargent 0-1 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 0

Fuller 1-4 0-0 0-0 2-1 0 4 2 Nelson 4-8 1-5 0-4 0-0 3 2 9

Laabs 2-6 0-0 0-0 6-1 1 0 4 Spach 0-3 0-2 0-0 2-4 1 0 0

Smith 1-7 0-4 0-4 2-2 3 2 2 Byers 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-0 0 0 0

JHoov'r 2-6 0-2 0-0 0-3 2 1 4 Wheatley 0-3 0-1 0-0 1-0 1 0 0

O'Brien 4-17 0-4 0-0 2-2 1 0 8 Littler 5-12 4-9 2-4 0-4 2 0 16

Carrick 4-9 0-0 1-2 2-4 2 1 9 Wardyn 6-12 0-3 4-6 2-2 1 1 16

GHoov'r 6-7 5-6 0-0 1-4 2 0 17 Younker 3-4 0-1 1-2 1-2 0 0 7

Stowe 1-2 0-0 0-0 1-6 0 0 2

Kading 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 2