Three Rivers, Dyersburg State, Mineral Area, and Philander Smith Colleges will face off in a pre-season basketball jamboree in Sikeston and hosted by Three Rivers.

The Three Rivers College Sikeston Jamboree will be held in the Sikeston High School Field House on Saturday Oct. 8. Admission is free.

The game schedule for the jamboree includes:

• 10:00 a.m. -  Three Rivers vs. Dyersburg St.
• 11:45 a.m. -  Mineral Area vs. Philander Smith
• 1:30 p.m. -  Mineral Area vs. Dyersburg St.
• 3:15 p.m. - Three Rivers vs. Philander Smith

Three Rivers head coach Gene Bess has a record of 1,133 career wins with two national championship wins; he is the winningest coach in college basketball history. His son and former Three Rivers player Brian Bess is now an assistant coach for the Raiders.

Also assistant with coaching the 3R squad is Will Durden, a 2000 graduate of Portageville High School. Durden played at Three Rivers in 2003 and went on to play at Austin Peay University.

The teams from Dyersburg, Mineral Area and Philander Smith have varying connections to Three Rivers Basketball.

Thurlon "Sam" Weaver, head coach at Philander Smith, was named MVP at the NJCAA National Tournament in 1979 while playing for Three Rivers. He formerly served as head coach at Northern Iowa, Alcorn State and Henderson State Universities. Weaver was an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State, SIU, Mississippi State and Iowa State. His assistant coach is Anton McKinney. McKinney graduated from Kennett high school in 2000, played at Three Rivers in 2002 and went on to play at Drury University.

Head coach and Dyersburg Athletic Director Alan Barnett is a former Raider from 1983. Barnett later played and coached at Southeast Missouri State University.

The Mineral Area basketball team is coached by Corey Tate. He played at University of Missouri from 1995-'97. His assistant coach is Dontavius Jones, a Kennett High School graduate. Mineral Area College has also recruited two players from last year's Kennett High School team.

Among this year's Raider team is Sikeston graduate Will Holifield. Holifield is the son of Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield, and played on the 30-0 state championship team.

The Three Rivers team includes other area players such as Jay Raulston and Chris Kilgore from Poplar Bluff, Donnell Minnis from Portageville, and Jordan McGowan from Bernie.

For more information on the Sikeston Jamboree, contact Michelle Felter Reynolds, eastern campus development officer, at 573-472-6650 or michellereynolds@trcc.edu.

If you think you need an exciting primer for the Lady Bearcat High School basketball season, get to know the Lady Bearcats of T. S. Hill Middle School.  These young ladies will more than wet your appetite for great girls basketball.

Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University Bearcats provided an impressive offensive performance Saturday afternoon, defeating Urbana 28-12, making Keith Allen the winningest football coach in SBU history. Coach Allen now boasts the most wins (22) and the highest winning percentage (.449) of any football coach in the history of SBU.

The Bearcats were lead in a strong offensive effort by quarterback Dan Connors who threw for a career high 320 yards, and rushed for a career high 116 yards. Connors was extremely impressive through the air, completing 28 of his 36 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Connors excelled with 116 yards and one score on 21 carriers. The Bearcats also had a strong running performance by Tiras Harris who gained 87 yards off of 27 carriers. Charles Johnson once again lead the Bearcats in receptions (10) and receiving yards (144) as he recorded his second 100 yard receiving game on the season.

On the defensive side of the football, the Bearcats were lead in tackling by Chris Muhammad, who also had a key interception on SBU's own five yard line to prevent the Blue Knights from scoring. As a team, the Bearcats recorded season high's in passing yards (320), rushing yards (234), and total yards (554).

After a scoreless first quarter, the Blue Knights were the first to get on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter, taking an early 6-0 lead. SBU quickly responded when Connors hit Marcus Sullivan from five yards out in the back right corner of the endzone to put SBU up 7-6. Under four minutes later, Johnson broke free from the defense and was on the receiving end of a 46 yard touchdown pass from Connors, as SBU took a 14-6 halftime lead.

In the second half, Urbana responded back by scoring a touchdown midway through the third quarter, to cut SBU's lead to 14-12. SBU would quickly respond when Derwyn Lauderdale took a pitch from Connors 15 yards into the endzone to increase SBU's lead to 21-12. Connors would then tack on a 4 yard touchdown run of his own to finish off the scoring, and lead SBU to a 28-12 victory.

"I thought we did a great job and held them at bay," Coach Allen commented. "Connors did a great job at moving in the pocket and was also able to make plays down the field. Offensively we did a tremendous job, and came ready to play. Defensively we were able to hold them to 1 for 11 on third downs."

With the win, SBU moves to 4-1 on the season, and are set to travel to Liberty, Missouri to take on William Jewell College on Saturday, October 8. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Dexter Bearcats opened up conference play with a bang on Friday night. The ‘Cats racked up over 500 yards of total offense on their way to a 47-0 blowout of the Charleston Blue Jays.

The ‘Cats’ defense put on a clinic during the contest, holding Charleston to just 131 yards of total offense, while forcing five turnovers - 3 fumbles, 2 INT’s - in the squad’s first shutout of the season. Head coach Aaron Pixley was very pleased with the team’s performance in the contest.

“We were pretty loose before the game, but this team seems to go a little better if they can be loose before a game, talk to each other, but they came out with good energy, and we executed from the get-go,” Pixley said. “The running game and passing game on offense were clicking very well, our defense was clicking well, I’m just proud of all of our guys. I feel like it was a complete team win for all of us, and we played hard.”

“Coach Schwab preaches reading keys - that’s what we try to do defensively. I felt like the defense read their keys very well, and even when we gave up four to six yard runs there, there wasn’t a whole lot of room for them to run in - we were getting there, but sometimes we were just a bit late,” Pixley said of his defense. “We tackled well tonight, which is very, very important, and we swarmed to the ball and were physical all night long.”

The defensive unit was led by senior linebacker Alex Cliff (11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 pass breakup), who really stepped up in Nick Summers’ absence. Defensive tackles Zach Watson and Chase Noe tagged on 10 and 7 tackles, respectively.

One of the biggest defensive plays in the ballgame was made by sophomore Cody Neldon - with Charleston threatening to score late in the second quarter, Neldon snagged a bobbled pass on the one yard line to kill the drive.


“That pick was a big play for us - they had been hitting a fullback or a wing out in the flat, and it was a very good play for them. They run the naked bootleg so well that it got our outside backers drawn up, and he was wide open out there,” Pixley continued. “We started doing a better job covering it, and we forced a tip on it, and Cody Neldon came in and picked it off.”

On the Bearcats’ next play from scrimmage - a play that was simply intended to get the team’s heels out of their own end zone - senior Josh Overall broke a huge 92 yard run behind some great blocking from his offensive line.


“When I broke that run, I thought ‘I better go, they’re fast’ and when I looked back, they just kept catching up,” Overall said of the play. “I tried my hardest to get [in the end zone], but it was still a big run, and I was happy with it.”

“We came right back out in a Power-I set, and ran an off-tackle play,” Pixley added. “He busted through untouched - the offensive line and lead backs did a great job of blocking for him there - and he had a good game.”

Despite being without seniors Summers and Tyler Miller, the Bearcats’ offensive attack was as potent as ever during the contest, with 524 total yards. Overall led the ‘Cats on the ground, with 158 yards on six carries rushing - he also caught 2 passes for 61 yards and 2 TD’s in the contest. Neldon led the ‘Cats through the air with 84 yards on 2 catches. Dexter signal-caller Cody Stevens had another solid performance, completing 6 of 9 passes for 193 yards and 2 TD’s, and rushing 9 times for 127 yards and 3 TD’s.

“We had a good game tonight, everybody played hard. We dominated on both offense and defense,” Stevens said after the game. “We did what we wanted tonight. It’s always good to get a shutout on D, Coach Schwab always wants one, and we got him one tonight.”

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Pixley also noted the outstanding performance of the “Big Nasty’s” up front - the Bearcat Offensive Line.

”I think the offensive line blocked extremely well tonight, and they’ve been doing that lately. I don’t think anyone on this football team is without mistakes, but it seems like whenever we do make a mistake, we do a pretty good job of bouncing back and making a positive play,” he said. “Tonight, I think we blocked extremely well up front, and those are kids that don’t get talked about a whole lot, but they are playing well right now.”

With the win, the Bearcats move to 5-1 on the season, and look ahead to one of the toughest teams on their schedule: the Caruthersville Tigers.


“Very, very tough game, quite possibly the toughest team on our schedule. Excellent team, they are well coached. They’ve got some veterans that have been around on that team, and they know how to win,” Pixley said. “Super athletes. We’ll have to have a great week of practice and play our best game of the year.”

The ‘Cats will play host to Caruthersville - now a perfect 6-0 on the season after Friday night’s 38-12 win over Herculaneum - for the culmination of next week’s Homecoming festivities. Kickoff for the contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

For a full breakdown of the game’s stats, click here.

As the weather turns to fall, it seems that fish across the region are remaining slow to hit on most baits. Across the board, bass and catfish seem to be the most likely to produce results. The Mississippi River at Cape and the St. Francis River, up above Lake Wappapello, look like they are having the most action out of all species.

SOUTHEAST REGION (573) 290-5858

    LAKES

Clearwater Lake: 75 degrees, normal, clear; crappie fair while trolling; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Council Bluff: 69 degrees, normal, clear; largemouth bass fair on dark colored soft plastic worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Cypress Lake: 72 degrees, normal, dingy; crappie fair on minnows and jigs; bluegill fair on crickets and worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Duck Creek: 68 degrees, normal, clear; largemouth bass good on shiners; bluegill fair on jigs; all other species fair. (Report made on 9/28/2011)

Lake Girardeau: normal, clear; channel catfish fair on worms and cut bait; largemouth bass fair on plastic worms; all other species fair. (Report made on 9/28/2011)

Perry County Lake: 70 degrees, clear; largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits; channel catfish fair on liver; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Robert DeLaney Lake: 76 degrees, normal, all species slow. (Report made on 9/27/2011)

Wappapello: normal, black bass good on crankbaits and plastic worms; crappie good on minnows and jigs; channel catfish good on live bait using jug lines and trotlines at night; bluegill fair on crickets and worms along shoreline; all other species slow.
Anglers should note the 9" minimum length regulation for crappie on Wappapello Lake.  Call the Wappapello Lake Recreation Hotline for updates at 573-222-8139. (Report made on 9/27/2011)

    RIVERS

Black River (near Annapolis): 72 degrees, low, clear; all species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Castor River (above Zalma): low, clear; all species fair. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Lower Black River (Clearwater Dam): normal, dingy; black bass good on topwater lures and crankbaits; channel catfish good on live and cut baits; white bass fair on tube jigs; crappie fair on jigs and minnows; all other species slow.
There have been some instances of paddlefish being caught and hooked in the mouth while using traditional fishing methods as of late.  Paddlefish are closed to taking by any method in the Black River except from March 15 through April 30.  If a paddlefish is caught outside of those specified dates it must be released immediately. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

Mississippi (below Charleston): low, dingy; all species slow. (Report made on 9/27/2011)

Mississippi River (Cape Girardeau) rising, dingy; channel catfish and blue catfish fair on worms, cut bait and stinkbait; all other species fair. (Report made on 9/28/2011)

St. Francis (above Wappapello): normal, dingy; all species slow. (Report made on 9/29/2011)

St. Francis (below Wappapello): 67 degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish fair on stinkbait, liver, and worms; flathead catfish fair on live bait, small bluegill, and goldfish; crappie fair on minnows and jigs; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/27/2011)