Campbell, Missouri - Bernie High School’s basketball team takes yet another victory to add to their brand new season. On Thursday, November 29th, the Bernie Mules faced the Twin Rivers Royals in the Campbell Tournament. The Mules took the win with a final score of 74 to 63 during the varsity game.
During the first quarter, Bernie barely took the lead but pulled through with the final score of first quarter at 16 to 15. The team knew they had to step up their defense if they were going to pull a win out from under Twin Rivers, so they began focusing their energy defensively as well as offensively. During the second quarter, Bernie found their groove on Campbell’s floors and quickly got back in the swing of things with a score of 32 to 25. The third quarter was still action packed but the Mules once again pulled farther ahead, slowly inching their way to victory with a score of 53 to 43. In the fourth quarter, Bernie continued to keep a ten point gap between them and their opponent, ending the game at 74 to 63.
Senior David Baker (#31) was the lead scorer for the Mules, gaining 22 of the 74 points by the end of the night. This is Baker’s last year of high school basketball and he is intent on keeping a shiny record throughout the season. Eric Ray from Twin Rivers was a tough rival, earning the Royals 21 of their 63 points, requiring the Mules to step up their defensive once again to keep a steady score. BJ Jennings, a Bernie Mule, scored 15 points while his teammate Bubby Schwent scored 12, helping lead their team to the victory they claimed last night.
Bernie’s current record is 2-0 and although Twin Rivers was a tough match, they pushed themselves to a whole new level to keep a spotless record thus far. Brad Botsch, Bernie’s head coach, believes that this will be a triumphant season for the Mules if they continue to work hard and build on their defense.
“We grinded out a win,” Botsch explained. “This was a very physical game that may not have been pretty, but we found a way to get the job done. Twin Rivers played hard and Coach Benson does a nice job with his kids. I thought we were on our heels defensively all night, and we’ll have to play much better if we want to beat a very good Holcomb club tomorrow.”
The Bernie Mules will be spending a third night at the Campbell Tournament and will be facing the Holcomb Hornets tonight at 8:30pm. So, put on some blue and support the Mules as they fight for that third win tonight.
